


I Like You A Latte

by peachbunny



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Fluff, coffee shop AU, college!Daniel and HS!Jihoon, daniel is a sucker for cute stuff, hyung line are flatmates, jihoon knows he's aegyo AF, maknae line are classmates, maybe just fluff because this pairing needs all the fluff it can get
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-01-16 02:43:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12333831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachbunny/pseuds/peachbunny
Summary: Daniel’s hands on his cheeks were warm, his tentative smile lit up the room, and the way he spoke was bright and happy: all at 6:30am in the morning.Jihoon found himself smiling despite the ridiculous situation they were both in - the older boy was like coffee without the bitter aftertaste.aka the coffeeshop AU nobody asked for!





	1. Early Mornings and Yellow Uniforms

 

 

The sun was barely up and the room was only starting to fill with the aroma of roasting coffee when Kang Daniel flipped over the sign on the door – “Come in, we’re OPEN”.

 

He yawned quite loudly as he stretched his arms wide; then he hit his back a few times with a closed fist. He had already spent a good 30 minutes mopping the floor and setting down the wooden chairs in the tiny café, which wasn’t exactly ideal considering he’s only had a few hours of sleep and may or may not be recovering from a hangover.

 

Behind the counter yawned an equally sleepless Ong Seongwoo, his jet black hair mussed up and sticking in all directions. “I regret everything,” the older boy complained, dropping his head onto the counter. “We could’ve gotten part-time work at a bar or a pub and meet freshman girls and  _ sleep in on Wednesday mornings _ – but  _ nooo _ ,” Ong continues, waving his hand above his head. “Daniel  _ liiiikes  _ the smell of coffee in the morning.”

 

The taller boy with dirty blonde hair grinned at Ong against the slew of complaints. “Ah, quit it,” he says, grabbing an apron from inside the counter and tying it around his waist. “This job pays for the drinks you keep buying for the girls at the bar. And nobody told you to chug all that beer last night.”

 

“And waste my money’s worth?” Ong looked up, feigning outrage – and Daniel just laughs.

 

The two of them had practically the same classes at University, which left their Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings free to take part-time jobs. The only catch was that their flatmates kept Tuesday nights reserved as “chill drinking” nights, with Kim Jaehwan always buying too much beer that they had to get rid of before the landlord comes in to inspect their room. (“No alcohol, boys”, he would warn; “you lot already look troublesome enough without being rowdy.”)

 

“You drank Sungwoon’s share,” Daniel reminded, “and Minhyun’s.”

 

“They didn’t want it,” Ong defended as he pressed play on the phone attached to the café’s speakers. Mellow jazz music started up and the café started to feel a bit livelier. “And again, I think we should switch part-time jobs to something that doesn’t require us to wake up at 5 in the morning to open up shop.”

 

“ _ Aigoo _ , again with this talk?” a third boy walks in from the backroom. Unlike Daniel and Ong, he looked like he came to work to actually  _ work _ , despite having had a few beers himself last night.

 

“Jisung-hyung,” Daniel starts, amazed at how professional their senior looked, all dressed up in smart casual so early in the morning. Contrasting with the lazy sweaters and washed out jeans the younger two were wearing, he looked like the manager.

 

“We both know you two signed up to work here because the owner is smoking hot,” Jisung cuts in, firing off words in rapid succession as the two boys grinned sheepishly. They were not able to say no when they saw that the café owner was an intimidating  _ noona _ in her 30’s who preferred to be called Ms. Boa. “And because we all just live a couple of floors up so it’s extremely convenient.”

 

“However,” Jisung pushed past Ong to take his place beside the espresso machines, and proceeded to preen the younger man’s unkempt hair purely on instinct, “that is not an excuse to show up here looking like a couple of sleepless college flunkies.”  

 

“Hey,” Ong protested, but let Jisung go about smoothing his clothes anyway, “this look,” - he gestures to himself, - “happens to be very popular among the ladies.”

 

“Which look, Ong Seongwoo?” Jisung interjected, “Tall, Unkempt, and Hungover? Last I heard you weren’t exactly flavor of the month in your class.”

 

Daniel laughed loudly despite trying not to, and Ong was visibly offended. “It was one time!”  He had showed up late to class a few weeks earlier nursing a hangover and still wearing his patterned pajamas, and was used by the professor to illustrate why “fashion nowadays was declining.” Daniel relayed the entire story to their flatmates and now the boys wouldn’t let him live it down.

 

“Anyways,” Jisung continued, grinning. “As newly-appointed shift supervisor, I can’t have my baristas looking like they just crawled out of bed and into this shop.”

 

Ong slapped him on the back, and Daniel gave him a high-five. Jisung definitely deserved the promotion after all that hard work. He was balancing his master’s thesis with the part-time work, and he usually signed up for a lot more shifts than necessary.

 

“Give him a break, hyung,” Daniel tried to come to Ong’s rescue, “for one, we did just crawl out of bed-“

 

“And besides, our only customers are disgruntled members of the work force trying to get their morning coffee fix,” Ong said, busying himself with wiping some of the cups. Customers would be filling in pretty soon.

 

“And I haven’t seen a single cute customer since we started,” Daniel joked, leaning back on the counter.

 

At that exact moment, at 6:43 in the morning, the bell on the door chimed to signal the arrival of their first customer: a young boy clad in a bright yellow school uniform stiffly shuffled in. He was all chocolate brown hair, shy smile, and the prettiest eyes Daniel had ever seen.  He was almost too much to take in at one glance, with his mismatched laces, soft pink backpack, and a fat folder bursting with multicolored post-its – all clashing with that already attention-seeking yellow uniform. 

 

Yet for all that visual shock, the boy seemed like he was all too embarrassed to be here.

 

Jisung shot a glare at Daniel, who was supposed to be chirping a welcome greeting to the customer and finding them a seat, but the boy just stood there staring. Ong broke the awkward silence by shouting a bit too loudly, “Good morning, welcome!” which effectively knocked Daniel back to reality and almost shocked the customer who looked like he wanted nothing more than to turn around and run off.

 

“Ah forgive us,” Jisung approached, waving the boy to a seat, “we’ve just opened for the day! Why don’t you make yourself comfortable? Your server Daniel will be with you shortly.”

 

The boy nodded and walked over to the seat, scattering a few post-its on his way.

 

Jisung walked back to the counter and tapped Daniel on the shoulder, whispering, “Well, it’s your lucky day, Niel. Here’s the first cute customer since you started.”

 

* 

 

Daniel gulped as he grabbed three of the menus stuck onto tattered cork clipboards and a pitcher of water and gingerly walked towards his target. Normally he was smooth, suave, and slick with the customers - generally impressing the ladies who frequented the shop, but this was different. Here was an adorable little boy who was raising every protective instinct in Daniel’s being just by breathing and sitting there.

 

He was seriously holding back the desire to coo over the young man - who was probably 18 or 19 based on the uniform he was wearing. He could distantly hear Ong snickering behind the counter as Jisung turned up the jazz music a bit. 

 

“Hi, I’m Daniel,” he started, startling the boy for the nth time since he entered the shop.  _ Like a little baby deer _ , Daniel made a mental note before almost strangling himself for making the comparison.  _ Now the boy looked twice as adorable as he originally looked. _

“Can I get you anything…?” Daniel asked as he put down the menus -  _ why did I get three? -  _ and started pouring some water onto the boy’s glass.

 

“Onestrawberryandcreamfrappuccinothankyou,” the boy breathed out, barely looking up at Daniel. At this, Daniel couldn’t help it. He laughed aloud, nearly spilling water all over the table and the boy’s files.

 

And the boy’s head snapped up at him, mortified. “Ah, so cute,” Daniel blurted out before covering his mouth. The two men behind the counter had their hands covering their faces. From second-hand embarrassment or to keep themselves from laughing, they were not sure. Daniel had the bad habit of speaking his mind unnecessarily - and calling a customer cute was bordering on inappropriate.

 

“Ah, sorry- I mean, gotcha. One strawberry and cream fra-” 

 

“...Kang Daniel?” the small boy started, now staring directly at Daniel in...awe? His face lit up after recognizing the older boy, his earlier discomfort seemingly gone.

 

“Yes?” Daniel stared back, confused. 

 

“Ah! We went to elementary school together! I’m Park Jih- Wow, imagine seeing you here, ah.” the boy started speaking enthusiastically before remembering himself and slowly attempted to fade back into trying to blend in with the furniture. Not that he could even if he tried - the boy stuck out like a fashionably-offensive sore thumb. 

 

_ Park Ji..WHO?  _ Daniel tried to cycle through all the kids he knew from school. There  must have been a thousand Parks he had met in this lifetime but none of them looked like this. He would have remembered.

 

“Ah, nice seeing you here, kid!” he smiled, trying to fake his way through not remembering this particular Mr. Park. “Hold on let me get your order,” _and buy myself some time to scroll through the Parks_ _on my contact list._

 

The boy breathed out in relief as Daniel walked back to the counter to a Jisung who had an eyebrow raised and a question on his tongue and Ong with a shit-eating grin. Without a word, Daniel pulled Ong by the collar into the backroom and left Jisung with a “ _ he wants the pink stuff. _ ”

 

Once the door was closed in the backroom, Daniel was jumping around. Ong crossed his arms and leaned on the wall as he watched the huge boy bounce across the room.

“ONG HE LOOKS LIKE A STUFFED TOY,” Daniel said in between gritted teeth and huge bunny smile, “HOW CAN SOMEONE BE THAT ADORABLE? I NEED TO PINCH THOSE CHEEKS, AH.” 

 

Ong grinned. If Daniel had a weakness, it would be those ridiculously sweet gummies that he kept storing in their room, and adorable small  _ anythings _ . The boy who just walked into the cafe could have been both going by Daniel’s reaction. “And based on the conversation I heard earlier, Kang Daniel,” Ong started, mimicking the boy’s more-than-enthusiastic recognition of his colleague, “he knows you but you don’t know who the hell that is sitting out there.”

 

“This is why I dragged you in here!” Daniel groaned, still bouncing on his heels. “What do I do?” 

 

“Call him sweetie or something,” Ong shrugged, having used the approach so many times and to great effect. “Talk about how your school principal didn’t have hair, say “wow you got into a good highschool!”, or ask him flat out which bet he lost that he needs to wear that awful ensemble. Honestly, Daniel, it’s like he walked out as the losing end of some paint job gone wrong.”

 

“OY!” a knock came from the door, surprising them both. “Enough making out in  _ my damn office _ and start serving customers out here!” 

 

“Ah,  _ supervisor _ ,” Ong said, opening the door and shuffling out while pretending to fix his clothes, “such crass words, my innocence is tainted.” 

 

“You were born tainted, Seongwoo,” Jisung deadpanned, placing a very pink and very creamy drink on a tray and pushing it to Daniel. “But the newly-arrived ladies seem to like garbage, so I couldn’t fire you just yet.”

 

“Daniel, this is for little Mr. Creampuff sitting on table 2,” Jisung continued his savage train of thought, “And please stop laughing at him, we know he looks ridiculous but we offer equal opportunities here - you can’t scare him out until he pays.” 

 

Ong made an exaggerated salute and marched over to the three ladies who have just entered the shop as Daniel made his way to the young mister Park.  _ Ong said I could call him sweetie, but that might just make him cringe. _

 

Daniel racked his brain for the right term as he slowly walked with the tray in hand.  _ Look at him, drinking water. He’s cute, my cats are cute, stuffed toys are cute... _

 

“Hey, baby,” he greeted when he got there, distracted by the thought of cats and stuffed toys. 

 

The boy spat out the water he was drinking and started coughing.

 

“Oh, shit, wait, ah - I meant  _ ‘bro’ _ ! Hey,  _ BRO _ ...” Daniel attempted to redeem himself, “Oh wow, hey, sorry!” he fumbled, placing the tray down on the table and patting the choking boy on his back. “Oh man, don’t die here, Jisung’s gonna kill me…”

 

To his surprise, Park Ji-whoever started laughing once his life was in the clear. “Honestly, Daniel-hyung,” the boy managed to say inbetween peals of laughter, “I just came here for the drink, I don’t wanna be your baby _. _ ” The boy was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes and then it hit him.

 

“Ya, it’s you, Park Jihoon!” 

 


	2. Aegyo Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Daniel is an absolute sucker for cute things when they cry.

“Crying boy Park Jihoon from the Performing Arts club!” Daniel exclaimed, thrilled to finally have a name to the face. “Wah, it’s been such a long time!”

 

Jihoon instinctively pouted at this. “I don’t do the whole crying thing anymore, hyung,” he pulled out a very pink handkerchief from his pocket and started wiping the tears from his face. “As a matter of fact, I’m part of my school’s dance group now.”

The way he said it made it feel like a badge of accomplishment, and Daniel can’t hide how impressed he was. He started patting the boy’s hair in appreciation, earning him a raised eyebrow but no further questioning from Jihoon. “Ah, amazing Jihoonie,” he grinned. “I’m also one of the choreographers at my university’s dance squad - you should come check us out sometime!”

“Daniel!” Jisung called over from behind the counter.

“Ah, sorry Jihoonie - need to get back to work. I’ll come back in a bit.” Daniel excused himself, running over to the group of men in three-piece suits who looked like they were just here to pick up some espressos to go.

 

One customer after the other poured into the cafe after them, leaving the three baristas with their hands full trying to seat them, or prepare their drinks, or bus after the clients that just left. Despite the busy rush, Ong was able to get a couple of table napkins with someone’s number scrawled on it, and he gave Daniel a quick wink as he stuffed them into his pockets. Daniel smiled and rolled his eyes, attention brought back to Jihoon who was taking a final sip from his drink.

He felt a slight disappointment in not being able to stare at the boy a little longer as Jihoon strapped on his backpack ( _wow who knew anyone could make that tacky color combination look good),_ picked up his folders ( _look at him so diligent, FIGHTING Jihoonie!),_ push back the chair _(ah such a polite dongsaeng)_ , and head for the exi-

“What? He hasn’t paid yet!” Daniel said out loud as he was punching another customer’s order into the register. He tapped Ong to cover for the transaction and started to follow the boy in yellow.

 

“Ya, Jihoonie!”

 

Jihoon’s retreating figure stiffened as he heard Daniel call, thinking if he should make a run for it, but Daniel’s hand was on his wrist before he could bolt. The scared boy turned to face Daniel and for a while he thought he had grabbed Jihoon too forcefully.

Tears were forming against those large, large eyes and Daniel started feeling guilty. “Hey, Park Jihoon, are you oka-” he started, leaning down a bit to get to Jihoon’s eye level. _Yep, boy was definitely crying._

Before Daniel could stutter out an apology, Jihoon squeaked, “Jihoonie didn’t have enough money today, but,” he sniffed, tiny hands rubbing his nose, “Jihoonie wanted to see Daniel-hyung.” The taller blonde’s brain went blank. He was already starting to get used to how cute the younger was, but he _had_ to dial it up with that _aegyo_. “Ah, ah, stop crying Jihoon…” he said, scratching the back of his neck. He could feel Jisung and Ong staring at the weird exchange.

“It’s my treat!” he said, patting the boy’s hair. Thankfully, Jihoon looked up smiling. “Really, hyung?” Daniel smiled back - _seriously what was with this adorable boy_ \- “Really! Think of it as a good luck gift for your studies.”

“Thanks!” Jihoon winked - _did he just wink at me_ \- and started to skip merrily out toward the door.

The bell chimed again as a pair of boys entered, Kim Jaehwan opening the door and the taller boy carrying a huge stack of boxes, “Hey, hey, Minhyun-hyung and I have the -”

 

**_CRASH._ **

 

Jihoon ran right smack into Hwang Minhyun, effectively making the tall boy drop the boxes in his arms. The customers in the cafe all moved to stare at the boy in yellow sitting down on the floor, surrounded by the breakage of fine china.

“-correction, _Minhyun-hyung broke_ the expensive ceramic set Miss Boa asked us to handle with utmost care.”

Kim Jaehwan stood there laughing as the rest of his flatmates and little Park Jihoon stared in horror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just got back from the Wanna One fanmeet in Manila and the interactions were not enough for my Nielwink soul!  
> Apologies for the short chapter - will be posting a much longer one tomorrow after I've recovered~
> 
> Thank you so much for all those who left comments! You have motivated me to continue this fluff-dump of a fic :3 Hwaiting!!!


	3. The View from the Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As promised yesterday, here's the continuation of the chapter!

_An hour earlier._

 

The signboard flipped, indicating that the coffee shop was finally open for the day.

 

Two boys stood across Coffee 101, the small cafe they often passed on their way home from school. They were both wearing the same bright yellow school uniform, and were both supposed to be headed to school as they had told their respective mothers.

 

But here they were, standing across a posh little coffee shop they cannot afford to buy from with their allowances.

 

“Chickening out, Park?”

 

“In your dreams, Park.”

 

“Well, we only have until 7:30 for you to finish this if we still want to make it to homeroom class.”

 

“No need to tell me twice,” the boy with the brown hair scowled, ruining and fixing his hair as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

 

“You can still back out Jihoon,” the boy with the red hair grinned, irritating his classmate. “And just admit that I’m better than you at things like this.”

 

“Tch, you wish, Woojin,” Jihoon bluffed, blowing at his bangs. “If anyone could walk away getting free things from people, that would be _me.”_

 

“Technically, though - this is theft.” Woojin casually implied, raising his arms behind his head. “I just managed to get free ice cream from an old lady at the fair yesterday. Not my fault she likes me more than you.”

 

“I’m infinitely more likable, that is the _entire point_ ,” Jihoon countered, holding his file folder closer. “And whichever _noona_ is manning the counter today at that cafe is going to confirm it.”

 

He smiled sweetly at Woojin, “And you will then owe me free lunch for a month.”

 

“Committing crime for a couple of free lunches - I’m impressed.”

 

===

 

Jihoon did not want to do this. Absolutely wanted to chicken out. If not for the semi-negligible taunt made by Woojin, he would’ve walked on and not have spared another glance at the expensive coffee shop. But to hear about Woojin bragging to their entire friend group that he was the cuter and more lovable Park of the duo was enough to trigger how competitive Park Jihoon truly was.

 

Criminal? Maybe. But he was going to be criminally adorable winning this bet.

Adorable fluffy hair? Check. Wore contacts despite not needing them? Check. Fabulously adorable get-up? Triple check. He almost pitied the woman who will be cooing over him the moment he enters the establishment.

 

Jihoon froze in shock as he saw three grown college boys bickering over the coffee counter. He scanned the room for any trace of _anyone_ who will find him adorable and not think that they were being scammed. He was about to spin on his heels when the black-haired barista behind the counter greeted, “Good morning, welcome!”

 

Bolt, Jihoon thought, willing his legs to just turn around.

 

“Ah forgive us,” one of the men approached, pointing at a seat in the cafe. “We’ve just opened for the day! Why don’t you make yourself comfortable? Your server Daniel will be with you shortly.”

 

Jihoon nodded meekly and started to shuffle towards the seat, brain trying to figure a way out of this situation. He can already see Woojin laughing at him from the street across.

 

He clutched at his pants to keep himself from shaking because of the sheer stress this was putting on his 19-year old brain, coming up with some other tactic to get a free drink. No way was he getting out of this coffee shop looking like the laughing stock of his school.

 

“Hi, I’m Daniel,” a deep voice came from behind him, and he nearly jumped out of his seat in surprise. “Can I get you anything…?”

 

“Onestrawberryandcreamfrappuccinothankyou,” Jihoon managed, mentally slapping himself for how awkward that must sound. He started to wonder if he looked suspicious and if he could stand a chance in a fight with three older guys. To his surprise, the voice beside him laughed.

 

Jihoon finally managed to look up, ready to fight the guy for laughing at his order.

 

“Ah, so cute,” the taller boy smiled, before composing himself. “Ah, sorry- I mean, gotcha. One strawberry and cream fra-”

 

_Hold on a hot second. This man was very, very familiar._

 

“...Kang Daniel?” Jihoon said, nearly hugging the boy in front of him in glee. He could just ask for a free drink from an old friend and he wins the bet.

 

“Yes?” the boy stared back, obviously puzzled.

 

“Ah! We went to elementary school together! I’m Park Jih- Wow, imagine seeing you here, ah.” Jihoon stopped midsentence, carefully assessing if he was to reveal himself as the scammer he set out to become upon entering the store. Can’t be too enthusiastic either- that was just too suspicious.

  
Nevertheless, this was THE _Kang Daniel_ \- the reason Jihoon even tried out dance in the first place. The universe would forgive him for fanboy-ing a bit.

 

“Ah, nice seeing you here, kid! Hold on let me get your order,” Daniel smiled politely.

 

A bit _too_ politely: Jihoon felt embarrassed. Obviously, Daniel did not recall who he was. Which made perfect sense considering that Daniel was a famous dancer even back when they were just kids, and Jihoon was always cast as a minor character that had to repeatedly cry for any school production.

 

In middle school and high school he managed to break free from that stereotype, trying out and enjoying dance because _Daniel-hyung was cool whenever he b-boyed for school productions_. Jihoon wasn’t as tall and did not have the right kind of appeal to play the part of Kang Daniel, but he discovered a weapon he possessed by the truckload: look as adorable as humanly possible.

 

He reassured himself of his ability to be cute even in the most difficult of situations as he drank from his glass of water to calm his nerves.

 

“Hey, baby,” came Daniel’s voice from behind him, and he nearly choked on his drink.

 

*

Deciding that Daniel was _too nice_ and _too important in his life_ to play a trick on, and considering the large volume of customers that were flooding the coffee shop _(seriously how could adults spend this much on just coffee?) -_ Jihoon figured that he could sneak out unnoticed, win the bet, and come back tonight to pay Daniel the full price of the drink. Sure it would set him back a full week’s allowance, but his conscience would be clear.

 

He carefully packed his stuff, trying to be discreet as possible, and started to head out the door.

 

“Ya, Jihoonie!”

 

Jihoon froze on the spot, trying to come up with an explanation. In no time, Daniel’s hand was around his wrist, preventing any “RUN FOR IT” escape plans. Scrap that. Time for Plan B. _Sorry, Daniel-hyung._

 

Summoning all his training and all those years spent crying on demand, Jihoon put on his best “kicked puppy” face and turned to look at Daniel.

 

“Hey, Park Jihoon, are you oka-” the older boy started, obviously concerned _._

 

“Jihoonie didn’t have enough money today, but Jihoonie wanted to see Daniel-hyung.” Jihoon cringed at how cutesy that must have come out, but he had no choice. It was do or die.

 

“Ah, ah, stop crying Jihoon…It’s my treat!”

 

Jihoon breathed out a sigh of relief. He couldn’t believe that this actually worked. “Really, hyung?”

 

“Really! Think of it as a good luck gift for your studies.”

 

“Thanks!” Jihoon winked - that usually sealed the _aegyo_ deal - and he turned to claim victory over Woojin who was now sitting on the sidewalk outside.

 

“Hey, hey, Minhyun-hyung and I have the -”

 

**_CRASH._ **

  
“-correction, _Minhyun-hyung broke_ the expensive ceramic set Miss Boa asked us to handle with utmost care.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jihoon's not a clueless cutie after all :3
> 
> After seeing both sides of the same morning, expect the continuation of this scene soon!   
> Please leave kudos or comments if you liked it~ Especially to Nielwink shippers, let's try to keep this ship sailing!!!


	4. Conscience and Consequence

Jihoon tapped his pen on his desk repeatedly, eyes transfixed on the clock above the chalkboard. The teacher was going on about requirements for the sembreak, and the entire room was buzzing with excitement for the last two days of class to come that will just be spent completing class clearances and hanging around the campus. 

 

“Ah, Jihoon,” his seatmate, Bae Jinyoung turned to him as the teacher sat down to collect student forms and the entire class started noisily chatting with each other. “Daehwi and I just entered our names for that dance competition happening over the break - we’re short like...7 members for the routine but we can work around that if we join up with Samuel’s team.”

 

Jihoon nodded in acknowledgment without really understanding what his friend was saying - his mind was far too occupied with the events of the morning.

 

*

 

Minhyun stared in disbelief at Jaehwan, who was awkwardly laughing despite their shared predicament. Jisung was disoriented for all of 5 seconds before he started apologizing to the customers and carrying on; Ong produced a broom and dustpan from the supply closet.

 

Minhyun dutifully took over the clean up of the broken china set, forcing the still laughing Jaehwan to help him, while murmuring something along the lines of “ _smothering Jaehwan dead in his sleep”,_ allowing Ong to assist Jisung with the remaining customers.

 

Jihoon was surprised at how quickly the group organized themselves, with Daniel helping him up and making sure he didn’t step on any broken ceramic. He was neck-deep in guilt and shame at what just transpired, and slowly started to open his mouth to apologize profusely.

 

Daniel shushed him quickly and gently pushed him out, muttering under his breath, “It’s ok, I got this. Don’t be late for school!”

 

“But, Daniel-hyu-”

 

“Don’t be late for school.” Daniel’s gaze suddenly turned serious, lacing the sentence with a stark urgency, and Jihoon quickly nodded before scampering off.

 

He ran into Woojin who was fleeing the scene as well, the two boys running off in the direction of their school.

 

“Hell, Jihoon,” his friend commented as they ran, “heads are gonna roll for _that_ damage.”

 

*

 

“-hoon.”

 

“PARK JIHOON.”

 

Jinyoung, Daehwi and Woojin were now standing around Jihoon’s desk, with Woojin waving a hand over his face.

 

“What?” Jihoon snapped, still on edge.

 

“Calm down, tiger - we were just asking if you knew of a good place for us to do some dance practice,” Daehwi began, leaning against the window.

 

“He’s still stressing about the bunch of plates he broke this morning at a cafe,” Woojin explained, filling in Jinyoung and Daehwi with the details of their failed bet. “Of course, I’m buying _princess Jihoon_ here lunch for the rest of the month, but we can never pass by that route when going home anymore.”

 

Jihoon groaned and buried his face in his hands.

 

Just then, the dismissal bell rang and Jihoon stood up and ran without saying goodbye.

 

"I never see him acting all guilty when he pulls pranks on us," Jinyoung noted, stuffing all his stuff inside his backpack.

 

"In fact, I've never seen Park Jihoon guilty about anything at all," Daehwi agreed.

 

“I could literally see his conscience eating him alive all day,” Woojin smirked at his neighbor’s departure before grinning at the two other boys. "Must be something to do with that barista who was all over his crocodile tears this morning. Wanna make a bet on what he's gonna do next?"

 

 

*

 

“So you’re telling me,” her silken voice echoed inside the small room, manicured fingernails tapping against the mahogany table. “That Daniel pushed Minhyun, effectively breaking the handpainted china set that I had specially made and have waited to receive for nearly half a year?”

 

Miss Boa’s tone was even, hardly changing tone or betraying any emotion behind her equally unperturbed face.

 

The six boys in front of her nodded, with Sungwoon way past the point of protesting that he “ _wasn’t even awake when this happened_ ”.

 

“And that Jaehwan attempted to fix the whole thing with…white glue.”

 

“I didn’t know how to use the glue gun-,” Jaehwan tried to explain before Jisung practically slapped a hand to cover his mouth.

 

“We’re really sorry, Ma’am,” Jisung began, dutifully taking over the situation as the boys’ defendant. “I take full responsibility for the damages.”

 

Boa stopped the tapping and stood up, leaning against the table as she came closer to the six.

 

“I appreciate the gesture Jisung, but a lot of things don’t check out,” she continued, voice as even as ever, “and I would like to know who really was at fault.”

 

“First of all, why was Minhyun - out of all of you - doing the heavy lifting?”  she paced back and forth in the room, trying to sniff out the lie. If Minhyun took offense at that question, his pale face hid it quite well.

“Secondly, Daniel does not have a history of domestic violence therefore is not qualified to push a housemate on a whim.”

 

She stopped in front of Daniel.

 

“Lastly, why didn’t anyone stop Jaehwan from fixing this?” She gestured at the messy pile of broken china on the desk, and broke into a smile.

 

“He convinced us that he was very good at art projects back in-”

 

“Back in preschool, Jaehwannie?” This earned a few snickers from the boys, the tension finally broken after Boa started making light jokes.

 

“Relax, boys, I’m not going to bite anyone’s head off, stop looking like you’re all on death row.” she put a hand on Jisung’s shoulder.

 

“But I am docking Daniel’s pay, seeing as he’s adamant he’s the one at fault here.” The group looked to Daniel who was now fidgeting with his shirt sleeves.

 

Just then they heard a commotion by the door.

 

“Sir, you can’t just enter that ro-”

 

“Daniel-hyung!” a flash of yellow and chocolate brown appeared at the doorway, closely followed by a very harassed-looking Dongho who was manning the late afternoon shift.

 

“Sorry Ma’am,” Dongho explained, trying to pull the smaller boy by the shoulders; which should have been easy for him - but for his pretty face and dainty demeanor, Jihoon was surprisingly strong.

 

“Jihoonie,” Daniel tried to interrupt.

 

Jihoon seemed to have put two and two together and after he shrugged off Dongho’s arms, he made a low bow to the establishment’s owner. “It’s not Daniel-hyung’s or any of the hyungs’ fault miss!”

 

Boa aimed a quick look at Daniel who was visibly shocked with his mouth wide open, matching all the other boys’ wide open eyes.

 

“My name is Park Jihoon, I was Kang Daniel’s junior and I will pay for all the damages I’ve caused for my unruly behavior this morning!”

 

“I can work for free until I pay the debt off,” Jihoon stuttered, losing the initial burst of confidence he had. “How...much was it?”

 

Boa smirked, finding the small boy entertaining.

 

“2 million won.”  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really really really love all the boys so trying to play up the whole bro vibe across hyung line and maknae line!  
> also randomly threw in a Dongho lol
> 
> As always, please do comment if you enjoyed this chapter/if you have any ideas on what's gonna happen next! And see you next chapter when the fluff ~really~ begins :3


	5. First Day at Work

On most Saturday mornings, Daniel would only be coming back home from a night of debauchery with friends and acquaintances from the university. But today was not like most Saturday mornings.

He had to skip drinking with Ong and the gang to wake up on time, slamming down on his alarm at 5 in the morning and slowly dressing himself up in the outfit Jisung picked out for him the night before. A dress shirt, slacks, and polished black leathers. He almost rolled his eyes – he was a part-timer at a café, not a guy meeting someone’s parents for the first time.

-

Daniel yawned and reached out to flip the signboard, only to find a pair of eyes peeping in from outside the glass door. 

“JIHOON!” he jumped back, before quickly unlocking the door and pulling it open. The cold morning air from outside blew in as Jihoon half-ran to the warmth inside.

“Have you been out there long?” Daniel asked, suppressing a slight shiver while pushing the door shut.

“Since about 4:30?” the boy sneezed, hugging his pink bag even closer. Again, Jihoon looked like he was dressed by five different toddlers who had conflicting opinions – a black beret sitting just on top of his mussed brown hair, an oversized red and blue sweater only a grandma could love, and a pair of sneakers in some sort of military camouflage. 

“Wearing only that?” Daniel worried, walking ahead of the smaller boy to lead him into one of the booths. Jihoon seemed to take offense at the ‘only,’ countering, “I made sure the outfit I wore was pretty.”  

Daniel laughed, waving his hands in front of his face when he saw Jihoon’s expression fall at the reaction. “Ah, no, I was asking since it was really cold outside and you didn’t have a coat on,” he explained, “Besides, Jisung-hyung started this rule that we start looking professional here.” Daniel pointed at the attire he was wearing – which was far too formal for a Saturday morning coaching session with their newest employee.

“Ah,” Jihoon smiled sheepishly, a blush creeping up his cheeks as he looked down at the pink bag he was still hugging like a lifeline, “I’ll try better next time then.”  

“Don’t pay it any mind,” Daniel again waved a hand furiously as if to swat the doubts in the boy’s mind. “That outfit is  _ super _ pretty.” He could mentally see Ong’s face judging him for making that compliment, but Jihoon visibly relaxed so he was handling this quite well. But the small boy was still shivering. 

 

“Would you like to have a cup of coffee to warm you up?” 

 

Jihoon paused for an uncomfortable while as Daniel prepared to stand up, before squeaking, “No more freebies, hyung,” the boy’s ears were pink from shame at the events of earlier that week. “And besides, I don’t drink coffee.” 

 

Daniel raised an eyebrow. How can the boy not drink coffee and volunteer to work at a cafe that specializes in meticulous brews and complicated latte art?

 

Jihoon fidgets in his seat, already contemplating how stupid “I don’t drink coffee” sounds from someone who was going to work at a coffee shop.  _ Great, my first day’s already off to a bad start.  _ He sat there looking like a cross between constipated and distressed, leaving Daniel puzzled in his freshly starched dress shirt.

“Ya, Park Jihoon,” Daniel says, reaching out large hands across the table to settle them on either side of Jihoon’s face. Jihoon looks up at the older boy, only to receive a soft but sharp slap on both cheeks. Before giving Jihoon the chance to feel any other emotion but shock, Daniel butts in, “It’s not your fault, dummy - stop looking like you’re in line for death row when you’ve just landed a great job with an extremely handsome hyung!”

 

Daniel silently cringed at that bravado he put on - he wanted to channel Seongwoo’s confidence but lost it as soon as Jihoon looked up at him with those huge eyes and a sudden flush. 

 

If Jihoon was blushing from shame the entire morning, he was now blushing for a different reason. Half of him wanted to punch Daniel’s smiling face for literally  _ slapping _ him out of his misery, but even that half could not deny how easily Daniel had put Jihoon’s mind at ease. Now distracted from the trench of guilt he had been living in for the past three days, he couldn’t help but gawk at the (abnormally handsome) hyung who still had his hands on both cheeks. 

 

Daniel’s hands were warm, his tentative smile lit up the room, and the way he spoke was bright and happy. All at 6:30am in the morning. Jihoon found himself smiling despite everything,  _ this hyung was like coffee without the bitter aftertaste.  _

 

“Screw that, hyung,” Jihoon challenged with a smug grin, swatting Daniel’s warm hands off his face. “You’re lucky to have this adorable dongsaeng to bus your tables and greet all the customers in.”

 

*   
  


Jisung buried his hands in his face for the nth time that afternoon. Sure, Park Jihoon was adorable, and that outfit that would’ve sent anyone else to fashion jail looked forgivable with that get-out-of-jail-free face. But the boy could not flirt with the customers like his hyungs did so casually, and he got several questions from concerned customers who wanted to educate him in labor laws and underage workers. 

 

“Ya, Kang Daniel,” he tapped Daniel’s shoulder as the boy completed a transaction. “Are you sure you’re only a couple of years older than your junior? He looks barely ready to graduate from kindergarten.”  

 

“I’m nineteen, Jisung-ssi,” the boy piped up from behind him, producing an ID that may or may not have been fake. 

 

Daniel looked at Jisung with a raised eyebrow. “He’s nineteen, hyung.” 

 

“Yes, yes,” Jisung dismissed as Jihoon continued washing cups in the backroom kitchen. “It’s just that normally, our part-timers look like this huge cow over here or like a daytime gigolo like the other one.”

 

“Starting tomorrow I’ll need you to come in with a proper white shirt and slacks,” Jisung continued, working on some paperwork on the counter across the small back kitchen window. Daniel was standing beside him, hands in apron pocket, awaiting any customers who would come in or any who would need his assistance. 

 

“About that, Jisung-ssi-”

 

“Jisung-hyung. I’m not that much older than you.”

 

Daniel snickered. “But you  _ are _ much older than him, hyu- ow!”

 

Jisung hit Daniel on the head with a menu without even raising his head from the paperwork.  “This is workplace abuse, supervisor.” Daniel whined before they were interrupted by a small cough.

 

“The only proper shirt I have is my school uniform,” Jihoon said shyly, drying up his hands and tentatively leaning across the window. “It’s against policy to wear it outside of school functions.”

 

Jisung stared at the boy. “Haven’t you ever gone to an event wearing a formal outfit? Graduation? Prom? A date?” 

 

Jihoon flushed and shook his head side to side. “Sorry, hyung,” he started, now looking at his laces like they were the most interesting thing on earth. “I’ll try to borrow from my neighbor, I think.”  _ Woojin doesn’t have any, considering that he’s a sloppier dresser _ , Jihoon thinks to himself. He had seen his friend’s closet enough times to conclude that neither of them had dress shirts. 

 

Jisung’s expression softened, before slapping himself and remembering how Daniel fell for the whole  _ cute  _ thing too easily. He was going to suggest that the boy borrow from his father - but thought otherwise since Jihoon begged them not to tell his parents about the whole ordeal. 

 

“Since you’re both in this mess together - you can borrow some of Daniel’s shirts,” Jisung concluded as he closed his folder and capped his pen. 

 

Daniel took out his hands from his apron and was about to protest when Jisung shot him a look, “I do your laundry and iron your clothes, you have no right to complain, Niel. Besides, you have more than enough of those.” 

 

Jihoon wanted to protest as well, but Daniel gave him a look that says he shouldn’t. “And now that that’s settled, our shift ends in about an hour.” Jisung briefed Jihoon, who was nodding at almost every word. “Sungwoon and Minhyun will be coming in to take the afternoon shift so you have the rest of the day off.”

 

“And, as Miss Boa said a few days ago,” he continued, turning to Daniel. “He is entirely your responsibility since he’s a minor - so he works only on your shifts and nothing more.”  

 

Daniel gives a weak smile and a thumbs up. This was definitely going to ruin his social agenda. There was no way the both of them working part-time on only his designated shifts could pay off the debt before Jihoon’s break ends. He would need to ask for a few more shifts after his classes end. 

 

He turns to look at the boy in the backroom who was again uttering apologies to Daniel. “I thought we talked about this earlier? I swear, Jihoonie, if you apologize to me one more time, I’ll go back there and break more plates so you can never escape this place,” he joked, reaching over to ruffle Jihoon’s hair.

 

“Rule #1 as your guardian and mentor in the wonderful world of Cafe 101,” he continued, “No apologies about the incident and no more of that guilty lip-biting.”

 

Jihoon unconsciously started to lick his lips after realizing he’s been biting down on it the whole time. “Besides, I personally don’t think of this as punishment,” Daniel continued, slightly embarrassed at revealing that he noticed Jihoon’s lip-worrying tendencies. 

 

Jihoon took a deep breath and decided that since they were stuck together, he might as well be better company for Daniel. He slowly looked up at his new mentor and gave a cheeky smile, “I honestly think I’m one of the best things to happen to your shifts, hyung.” The boy gave an exaggerated wink and an open-mouthed smile.  

 

“Ah, this kid,” Daniel rolled his eyes, and turned away before the desire to stuff Jihoon into his bag and take him home became too strong. He noticed a customer waving for his attention and quickly walked over.

 

Forget any social agenda he had planned for the next few weeks - he’d happily take a few more shifts just to keep seeing the fashion terrorist cleaning up the dishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand Jihoon starts part-timing with Daniel!
> 
> As always, please leave kudos or comments if you enjoyed the chapter :3 (Otherwise I'll be forced to end this fic at around 9 chapters...when it SHOULD BE 20 CHAPTERS WORTH OF just the boys being boys in a world of fluff) Will try to update 3x a week, but no promises!
> 
> The shameless flirting happens next chapter ;)


	6. Exams and Alibis

 

After Minhyun and Sungwoon arrived, Daniel took off his apron and gave them a quick tap on the shoulder. Jihoon stepped out from the kitchen and politely introduced himself to the two, and the older boys gave quick introductions as well.   
  
"Ah, it's the boy from the other day," Sungwoon noted, "How was your first day under this public offender?"   
  
Give Daniel some credit, the boy's still alive," Minhyun laughed, "Unlike the cacti corpses he has upstairs.”   
  
Daniel rolled his eyes at the two, but was surprised when Jihoon shot him a mischievous look and answered, "He slapped me this morning and kept touching me inappropriately."   
  
Minhyun and Sungwoon whipped their heads to look at Daniel so fast he was sure they broke something. He opened his mouth to argue but ended up just stuttering as a blush colored his face. He did slap Jihoon that morning, but he didnt expect it to hurt...and all he did was ruffle the boy's hair every now and then, which by all accounts could have made poor Jihoon uncomfortable. Remembering himself, Daniel made a low bow and started apologizing.    
  
"Ah-ah! Rule #1 hyung, no apologizing!"   
  
If Minhyun and Sungwoon weren’t scandalized before, they were now. "Ya, what did you do to a minor, Kang Daniel?" "Have you reported this to Jisung-hyung, Jihoon?"   
  
Before the hyungs could start smacking Daniel on the head, Jihoon laughed. "I kind of liked it actually," he grinned, putting on his beret and slinging on his pink backpack. Daniel didn't think he could feel any warmer than he was now. "See you again tomorrow, Daniel-hyung~"   
  
As Jihoon spun around to casually leave the cafe, Daniel hooked a hand on his backpack and pulled him over. "We aren't done yet, Jihoonie," he said, and crossed his arms. The two hyungs were still staring at him with a surprised expression so Jihoon stuck out a peace sign with both hands. "Just kidding, hyungs! He just kept messing up my hair," Jihoon explained, earning Daniel a few raised eyebrows and a teasing expression from Sungwoon. "But Daniel-hyung is the best. I owe him a lot."   
  
Jihoon cringed a bit at that was a bit more sincere than the playful persona he wanted to show the three boys.    
  
Daniel noticed that the boy kept shifting from one leg to the other and realized that Jihoon had been standing all day while doing the dishes almost nonstop. "Jihoonie, can you take a seat over at the corner?" He offered, racking his brain for an excuse to let the boy rest for a while. "I'll, uh, run you through the basics of how we will be working together."   
  
Jihoon was a bit surprised that he wasn't done for the day yet, but enthusiastically accepted the invitation to finally sit down. He waved a quick goodbye to Minhyun and Sungwoon before shuffling over to the corner seat.    
  
"You  _ liiiike _ him," Sungwoon grinned at Daniel, who was rolling up his sleeves and tucking his shirt out of his pants. 

"He's adorable and that's it, hyung," Daniel countered, taking a pitcher of water and pouring into two glasses. 

"Adorably bratty, if you ask me," Minhyun laughed at the flustered Daniel. "Keep your hands to yourself Daniel, or he'll find out how badly he has you wrapped around his little finger."    
"He's a good kid, and I could use a lot more nice people in this place," Daniel pouted. "I keep getting abused by my terrible hyungs."   
"Pay it forward, Daniel! Explicit permission to abuse your dongsaengs too!" Sungwoon called after him (earning a smack from Minhyun) as he walked to Jihoon with two glasses of water.   
  
When Daniel arrived at Jihoon's seat, the boy was furiously punching a message into his phone with a small smile. "Messaging someone special?" Daniel probed as he placed the glass on the table and pushed it toward Jihoon. He meant it as a joke but felt a tiny knot in his stomach - what if the younger boy answered with a yes? 

 

Jihoon shook his head and slung one arm on the backrest of his chair. "It's my idiot neighbor Woojin," he started. "Told him I'd be a bit late for our meeting this evening since I still have to cram some studies."   
  
Daniel remembered the file folder bursting with post-its from the other day. "You still have exams? I thought you guys were on break?"   
  
"College entrance exams are in a few weeks," Jihoon explained, gratefully drinking down the water Daniel brought. “I’ve sent out a few already and taken some exams, but wouldn’t hurt to have backups.”   
  
Their conversation continued for a bit - with Daniel sharing his own experiences in taking exams a few years ago before he got admitted into a psychology program, and Jihoon telling Daniel that he was interested in getting into a media and broadcast major in college. Daniel was surprised at how naturally their conversation flowed, and noticed more and more that cute boy Jihoon was a lot more than  _ just  _ cute. He had a boyish way of speaking when he wasn’t consciously trying to be cute; he had a sharp tongue and rough mannerisms, he loved messing up his hair when he spoke and kept licking his lips when he listened to Daniel speak.

 

The boy barely looked straight in his eyes - must be some force of habit - but when he does, Daniel could swear he could get lost in those eyes. 

 

“You could study here after work,” Daniel volunteered, noting how Jihoon perked up. “You can invite your friends over, and if any of us hyungs are manning the shift - you could ask us questions if you have any.”

 

“Jisung-hyung may look ancient and way past the point of recalling chemistry formulas,” he leaned in to whisper, “but he may have first-hand accounts of the Goryeo period.” Jihoon laughed at this, and nearly doubled over laughing when Daniel started humming the Goblin theme song.

 

The two barely noticed Seongwoo strolling in and taking a seat beside Daniel, “At least order something if you’re going to be flirting inside the cafe,” he mock complained, and gave Jihoon a small wave before turning to Daniel. “There’s a section mixer tonight and we’re going.” 

 

“I haven’t even said yes yet,” Daniel groaned, putting his head down on the table. 

 

“I said yes for you,” Seongwoo replied, “I am meeting up with a girl in my class and she’s taking along her friend who is more than a little interested in you.” 

 

Daniel groaned again. Double dates with Seongwoo never ended up pleasantly for him. All the girls in their class believe Daniel to be a smooth-talking casanova only to be immensely disappointed when he laughs at every single thing and starts talking to himself out of the blue.  “Why she’s interested in you rather than me, I will never understand,” Seongwoo continued, putting both hands over his heart as if hurt. 

 

Jihoon laughed at the entire exchange, bringing Daniel to look at him. He’d rather help Jihoon go over polynomials and geometry - his absolute worst subjects - than go out on another double date. “But I already promised Jihoon here that I’d help him out this evening,” Daniel said.

 

Jihoon looked at him with a confused expression and was starting to form a question when Daniel kicked him in the shin and shot him a begging look. 

 

“Ah, yes -” Jihoon started as Seongwoo blinked at him. “I also invited Daniel-hyung to check out the dance routine my friends and I are working on.”

 

Daniel looked at him with a confused expression. He was talking about some help with the entrance exams, but for some reason he was now roped into becoming a consulting choreographer.

 

“Shame on you, Kang Daniel,” Seongwoo decides to buy the story anyway, despite the bad acting coming from the blonde. “Choosing a bunch of kids you just met over your very own best friend, roommate, classmate, personal driver, the one true sunshine in your life.”

 

“And you!” he dramatically pointed a finger at Jihoon as he stood up from his seat, “Stop looking at me with those eyes or I  _ swear _ you’ll be my next date.” Jihoon played along by leaning over and staring even more intently at Seongwoo with eyes open wide. 

 

Seongwoo laughed at this and lightly tapped the boy’s face. “I like this kid,” he announced, “let me know when you’re old enough to drink - but for now I’m afraid I’m stuck with Jaehwan.” He shot a glance at Daniel, “Next time, you’re going with us whether you want to or not.” 

 

“Ong!” Minhyun called from behind the counter, and Seongwoo skipped off.

 

“I like that hyung, he’s funny,” Jihoon grinned. Daniel put his head in his hands. He definitely wasn’t jealous. “Of all the hyungs I have that you can like, it has to be  _ him _ ?”

 

Jihoon received a text message just then, and he quickly unlocked his phone. Daniel watched as the boy scanned the message and groaned. “Woojin just said we’re postponing practice,” he looked up at Daniel. “Guess that ruins your alibi, Daniel-hyung.” 

 

Daniel looked over his shoulder to make sure Seongwoo didn’t overhear. “Can you please, please pretend that it’s still on? We can go get chicken and I can just walk you home or something - but I really don’t want to go on another blind date Seongwoo-hyung setup...” 

 

“Let me get this straight, Daniel-hyung,” Jihoon started, a slight blush on his cheek and a  mischievous glint in his eyes. 

“You’re escaping a date with a college girl to go on a date...with me?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neither Daniel's hyungs nor his dongsaeng will let him live lol
> 
> Please, please leave a comment if you're enjoying the story so far \\( ' u ' )/ it would mean a lot for my nielwink heart ~
> 
> See you next update!


	7. The (Study) Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some vocabulary in case you're unfamiliar with the terms!
> 
> dakgalbi - spicy stir-fried chicken and vegetables dish  
> odeng - fishcake street food in Korea, served on a skewer with hot broth - really good when it's cold haha

When Daniel opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish at Jihoon’s suggestion, the younger boy laughed and waved his hands to dismiss the thought. “How about we just hang out someplace where I can study in peace?” Jihoon whispered, eyes flicking to Ong in case the boy came back.

  
“Yeah, we can hang out at my university's library for a while - you can review your stuff and I'll work on some papers I need to turn in by Monday," Daniel explained, the idea sounding more and more valid as he went on. "Plus, it's free to stay there and the heating's good."   
  
**

  
If by heating, Daniel meant that he would be softly snoring away beside Jihoon - then yes, the heating was good. The huge library was warm and cozy and easily lulled his huge hyung asleep.    
  
All the desks were occupied by cramming students so Daniel and Jihoon took a small booth at the library that faced a wall, sitting side by side. Jihoon hunched over at the desk, carefully jotting down notes - and Daniel had his laptop open but ended up falling asleep and sliding against the back of the sofa to awkwardly position himself just behind Jihoon's back.    
  
Jihoon wanted to kick his hyung awake but decided that Daniel deserved sleep - the boy was heavy but it was the least he could do to make it up for all the trouble he caused. Jihoon walked through three problems on his mock exam papers before being distracted by the even rise and fall of Daniel's breathing on his back.

 

How Daniel could manage to sleep in such an awkward position was a mystery to Jihoon. The blond has changed from his dress shirt and slacks into something more comfortable - a faded black tracksuit and a pair of worn sneakers. Without the intimidating aura he put on at work, Jihoon felt like Daniel was an overgrown pup tuckered out from a long day of play.

 

Daniel was four years older than him, and that was quite the difference in elementary school. Jihoon would normally get picked on by some of the kids in the performing arts club for being a crybaby - he almost quit the club because of it if not for the encouragement of his teachers. The older boys were particularly mean about it, except Daniel. Daniel then was big for his age and wore thick-rimmed spectacles; a far cry from the ridiculously handsome man he grew up to be. But Jihoon saw traces of the old Daniel everywhere - from the way his face scrunched up after laughing, to how incredibly trusting and positive he was all the time. He was sure a lot of people looked up to him now for his looks and talent alone, but he wondered how many of them liked Daniel for who he was underneath the shiny exterior.

Jihoon was pretty sure he admired Daniel from way before - the way his hyung silently carried on with dancing even if he wasn't as popular as the other kids in the dancing group because he was big and a bit awkward. The way Daniel looked amazed whenever Jihoon turned on the waterworks for school productions. And now, the way Daniel awkwardly but oh so peacefully slept on his back. The even rise and fall and small snores was enough to pull Jihoon away from his test exam and his thoughts and lull him to sleep.

*

Daniel wanted to annoy Jihoon by leaning on his back while he went through a particularly challenging math problem. The boy was so engrossed with the work that he hardly noticed Daniel slowly sliding off from his position towards the space between Jihoon and the sofa backrest, but Daniel did not count on actually falling asleep. Guess he was more tired than he gave himself credit for - if he went out with Seongwoo now he'd probably fall asleep in some pub and have lipstick drawings all over his face again when he woke up.

He woke up a few minutes later, about to apologize to Jihoon for actually sleeping on his back while Jihoon industriously worked on practice exams. What he found though, was that the boy fell asleep as well, head awkwardly hanging down from his sitting position and eyes strangely half-open. The lack of reaction to Daniel's movement indicated that he was, indeed, asleep.

Daniel suppressed the urge to laugh and found sleeping Jihoon incredibly cute. Minus the overblown aegyo and his cheekiness, Jihoon looked breathtakingly  _ pretty. _

He saw the boy's head dip a few times, probably trying not to move from his position so he doesn't crush the spot where Daniel's head rested a few seconds prior. Daniel silently cooed as he slowly maneuvered his dongsaeng's head onto his shoulder.

Jihoon fit so snugly against him that Daniel wondered how it must feel to hold those small hands in his, if he'll fit right into Daniel's embrace, or how soft those pouting lips are. He squeezed his eyes shut. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about these things - they had weeks ahead of them and he didn't want any awkwardness with the boy. He opened his laptop with his left hand and proceeded to type with only one hand as the other supported the weight of sleeping Jihoon.

*

_ Tak-a-tak-a-tak, tak. _

Jihoon's eyes slowly fluttered open, barely aware of the sound of someone slowly typing on a keyboard. His position was perfectly cozy and comfortable, and he was about to close his eyes again and burrow deeper into his soft pillow when -

_ Hold on. When did I even start sleeping? And what…am I sleeping on? _

Jihoon's eyes flew open with a start as he realized that he was sleeping on Daniel's shoulder and the older boy was busily typing away.

"H-ah!" Jihoon scooted away from Daniel as he wiped the side of his mouth.

Someone shushed from a few seats away and Daniel had to bite his hand to keep from laughing. "Sleep well, Jihoonie?"

 

“How long has it been?” Jihoon panicked, fixing his hair as he looked at his watch and groaned. “I was out for a whole hour?”

 

“I was typing with my left hand for an entire hour?” Daniel teased, and Jihoon squinted. “You could’ve woken me up, hyung,” he sorted his papers, flustered at having slept on Daniel’s shoulder when he was supposed to act cool and be the one to tease Daniel about falling asleep in the first place. 

 

“Nah,” Daniel said, hitting a quick Ctrl+S before shutting his laptop. “You’ve been up since what, 4am?” 

 

Jihoon nodded weakly. He did come in a bit too early on his first day. 

 

“Besides, you looked awfully angelic while sleeping,” Daniel blurted out, but regretted it when that mischievous look was back in his dongsaeng’s eyes. “Almost made me forget how much of a cheeky brat you really are,” Daniel added - just to make sure he didn’t sound too creepy.

 

Jihoon was trying to think of a comeback but was too tired, and the rumble of his empty stomach answered for him. Daniel giggled as the younger boy flushed with embarrassment, “It’s been a long day, hyung!” 

 

The librarian made her way to their booth and asked them to leave if they were going to continue with their behavior, and the two made quick apologies before picking up their bags to go. 

 

“This is a horrible first date,” Jihoon joked as they went down several flights of stairs to exit the university. 

 

“First?” Daniel knew that the younger was joking, but he felt happy hearing from Jihoon that they went on a ‘date’. “You’ve probably dated around by now, Jihoonie.” 

 

Jihoon stayed silent as they half-walked, half-jogged out of the university to beat the cold wind. It was already dark out, and Daniel could barely make out Jihoon’s expression with the dim light of the street lamps. 

 

“No way,” Daniel said in disbelief, trotting a few steps ahead of Jihoon. 

 

“It’s not a big deal,” Jihoon spat back in a way that obviously meant that it  _ was  _ a big deal. He now wore a troubled expression and Daniel started feeling a bit guilty. He was so sure that Jihoon and his pretty face has been the object of more than just a few people’s attention. 

 

He suddenly pulls Jihoon’s arm as he changed the direction they were walking in. “H-hey!” Jihoon protested, keen on already getting home to eat and sleep. 

 

“What kind of date am I if I don’t take you out for dinner?” Daniel teased, putting an arm around Jihoon. “Aish, I was just kidding!” Jihoon sputtered. He’d love to take advantage of any sap who wanted to give him free anythings - but Daniel wasn’t just any sap. Not to him, anyway.

 

Jihoon tried to pull away but Daniel’s grip was firm. “I buy you dinner now and you buy me some once we’re debt-free - deal?”

 

“...deal.” 

 

“Now how does  _ dakgalbi _ sound right now?”

 

The expression on Jihoon’s lamp-lit face as he looked up at Daniel was priceless. 

Chicken on an empty stomach?  _ Free _ chicken? Yes please.

 

*

 

_ A few minutes later. _

 

“What I said earlier still stands,” Jihoon casually said. “Horrible first date.” 

 

The two had entered a  _ dakgalbi _ restaurant and had to leave when Daniel realized he didn’t have enough money. 

 

They ended up at a streetfood vendor stall, with Jihoon paying for several sticks of  _ odeng _ . Both boys were famished and thankful for the warm broth, as they stood huddled together with other equally cold workers. The two hungrily eyed the other people buying  _ tteokbokki,  _ as Jihoon bit at his now- _ odeng _ -less stick.

 

Daniel grinned sheepishly. “At least your first  _ real  _ date can’t possibly be any worse than this.”

 

The two looked at each other and started laughing. “Such a nice guy, Daniel-hyung,” Jihoon teased. “Setting my standards so  _ low _ that anyone who would ask Park Jihoon out has a strong fighting chance.” 

 

Daniel smiled but bit his lip as Jihoon counted his money and reached for another stick of  _ odeng _ . He  _ sort of,  _ kind of,  _ probably _ didn’t want to give anyone a fighting chance at all with Park Jihoon. 

 

Jihoon waves the stick of  _ odeng _ in front of him. “Last one I can afford,” Jihoon said in between chewing the fishcake. “And this one is a thank you for saving my butt last Wednesday and for all the help today.” 

 

Daniel happily takes the stick, breaks off half, and hands it back to a surprised Jihoon. “And this is thank you for a better date than I would have had if I went with Seongwoo-hyung,” Daniel grinned, dumping the fishcake into Jihoon’s cup. “And now I owe you a better dinner than this.”

 

“Seriously, hyung,” Jihoon gratefully wolfs down his half, and hands over his payment to the lady manning the stall.  “I don’t know how bad your dates go if this is the  _ better _ one.”  

 

“Not that bad,” Daniel replies. “This is just  _ better _ .”

 

Jihoon stares at Daniel, and the taller boy realizes what he just said. He turns around before Jihoon could see him blush. “Come on,” Daniel walks ahead as Jihoon trotted behind him. “I’ll walk you home so it’s not a  _ total  _ disaster. Can’t have you going around ruining my reputation.”

 

“I honestly don’t think I can do much to  _ further  _ damage your dating reputation, hyung.” 

 

“Ah, don’t be cheeky or I won’t lend you a shirt tomorrow.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know which one of the two is falling faster, we'll see how it goes in the next few chapters ;) 
> 
> ALSO JIHOON'S PHOTOS FROM BOF AND FROM THE TEASER ARE KILLING ME SEND HELP (and send Nielwink moments I am starved for content huhuhu)
> 
> Did not edit at all, so forgive any mistakes ' o '  
> Please comment/kudos if you enjoyed~! And see you next update!


	8. Peach Polo

**_Daniel-hyung  22:30_ **

 

_ Got home safe ! ‘ w ‘ thanks again for “dinner” keke hope ur dad wasn’t mad _

 

**_Jihoonie  22:30_ **

 

_ i told u not to say hi to them i just got the talk _

 

_ it was really awkward _

 

_ i kept explaining you were my boss _

  
  


**_Daniel-hyung  22:30_ **

 

_ technically jisung hyung is your boss _

 

**_Jihoonie  22:30_ **

 

_ they overheard the whole “worst date” joke before they opened the door _

 

_ I told them we were just studying _

 

_ Mom said u don’t look like the studying type kekeke _

 

**_Daniel-hyung  22:31_ **

 

_ ㅠㅠ  _ _ they should’ve seen me in my work outfit !!! _

 

**_Jihoonie  22:31_ **

 

_ Long story short they now think i have a boyfriend fml they’re gonna watch me like A HAWK now _

 

_ Also don’t wear that outfit they may think I work at a host club _

 

**_Daniel-hyung  22:31_ **

 

_ Nothing’s wrong with puppy love in highschool ‘ w ‘ ~ _

 

_ Also i happen to look rly nice in my work outfit what u saying _

 

**_Jihoonie  22:31_ **

 

_...fine  _

 

_ I’d rock that outfit better tho  _

 

**_Daniel-hyung  22:31_ **

 

_ We will c tomorrow since im lending u shirts anyway _

 

_ Ill lend u the tiniest one i have keke _

 

_ smol _

 

**_Jihoonie  22:31_ **

 

_ … i hope u have diarrhea tomorrow hyung _

 

**_Daniel-hyung  22:32_ **

 

_!!!! knock on wood jihoonie _

 

**_Jihoonie  22:33_ **

 

_ I need u to explain to my mom that we are N O T dating _

 

_ She just went into my room to remind me to put my studies first _

 

_ She was CHOKinG BAcK A SOB _

 

_ “my little jihoon growing up”  _

 

_ This is y I told u not to say hi ! _

 

**_Daniel-hyung  22:33_ **

 

_ Ur mom is right _

 

**_Jihoonie  22:33_ **

 

_ huh _

 

**_Daniel-hyung  22:33_ **

 

_ books before boys _

 

_ studies before hotties _

 

_ science before sweethearts _

 

_ history before kisstory _

 

_ differentials before dating _

 

**_Jihoonie  22:33_ **

 

_ … _

 

_ daniel before differentials _

 

_ >:3c _

 

**_Daniel-hyung  22:35_ **

 

_ this is y ur mom thinks ur dating _

 

**_Daniel-hyung  22:50_ **

 

_ did u fall asleep _

 

**_Daniel-hyung  22:55_ **

 

_ yeah ur asleep _

 

_ see u tomorrow ‘ w ‘ !!!  _

 

_ * _

 

Jihoon sat there wearing Daniel's peach-colored dress shirt, meticulously ironed by Jisung from the way it easily creased with each movement. The shirt was probably a bit loose on Daniel, so it all but consumed Jihoon's smaller frame. His fingertips barely grazed the ends of the sleeves, but Jihoon decided that the look was very, very comfortable. And it smelled vaguely like peach and warm cotton - and reminded him a lot of Daniel, who was standing beside him looking as pink as the shirt he was wearing. "Can I borrow this one, hyung?"  
  
Jihoon wearing his clothes made Daniel happy. Too happy. The smaller boy looked positively like a cherub and the color of the dress shirt complemented his red apple cheeks very well. He could swear that at that moment, he wanted Jihoon to wear no other shirts but the ones off his own back - and what would he look like with Daniel's dance group jersey with KANG emblazoned on the back in large, bold letters. Daniel coughed to try to hide his embarrassment at such thoughts - but still managed to muck it up by blurting out, "You could steal my entire wardrobe and wear it better than me."  
  
Jihoon raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about," Jihoon replied, "I'd have to chop off the entire bottom legs of your pants just so I could wear them properly. Agh, I wish I were as tall as hyung." There was something safe and warm about Daniel that Jihoon didn't mind letting him in on that insecurity of his - he always looked tiny compared to his idols and he couldn't wait for whatever late growth spurt 19 year olds may still get.  
  


"But you're perfect as is!" Daniel felt the slight bitterness at Jihoon's statement, and was trying to make the smaller boy feel better. Not like he was telling a white lie - the boy did look perfect in front of him.  
  


"Look, if I reach over I can perfectly place my elbows on top of your shoulder,"  
  


Daniel placed his elbows across Jihoon's shoulder.  
  


"Or I can easily sling an arm around you,"  
  


He stepped closer and did so.  
  


"I can mess up your hair by blowing on it,"  
  


Jihoon squinted his eyes, unsure if Daniel was trying to make him feel better or pick on him, or both - there was already an insult on the tip of his tongue when -  
  


"And it's the perfect size for hugs!"  
  


His eyes blew wide open as Daniel's arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace, the older boy cooing. He wanted to slap Daniel off of him but for some reason having the older boy hug him while he wore his shirt felt incredibly normal.  
  
Daniel released the boy abruptly after noticing that Jihoon froze a bit during the hug. He didn't mean to make the boy feel uncomfortable, but Jihoon fit so snugly against him. Trying to play it cool, he exclaimed, "Ah, sorry - I messed up the shirt!"  
  
Jihoon looked up at him, missing the contact, but cheekily replied, "You do know I'll have to report this to Jisung-hyung." When Daniel went white at that, Jihoon laughed and tapped Daniel on the shoulder before making his way out of the room. "Just kidding, hyung!"  
  
He shot a glance at Daniel before going out of the door. "But I hope I do stay hug-sized for a while so I can keep borrowing these shirts," he noted, leaving Daniel with more butterflies in his stomach than he could count.  


Before Jihoon could leave the room, Daniel heard a loud shriek and knew that Seongwoo and Jaehwan were home. 

 

“Why does this boy look like he’s about to do a walk of shame in our good,  _ decent _ neighborhood?” Jaehwan slurred, arms slung around an equally inebriated Seongwoo. Seongwoo stumbled forward to grab Daniel’s collar, and shouted, “Just one day with the boy and he’s already sneaking out in your clothes,  _ you dog _ \- so that’s why you refused my invitation yesterday!”

 

“Sssh! Youll wake everyone up,” Daniel hissed at the two, covering their mouths before they all got in trouble and would be forced into flat-cleaning duty again. 

 

Daniel shot a quick glance at Jihoon who looked like he wanted nothing more than be swallowed by the carpet he was standing on. “Ah, Jihoon-ah,” Jaehwan’s grabby hands rested now on the boy’s shoulders, “On a scale of one to eleventy, how bad of a kisser was Daniel?”

 

Daniel sucked in a breath and hoped that whatever hangover the two hyungs will have would be enough to kill them later, but Jihoon coolly replied, “He was beyond bad,” then he put an arm around Jaehwan to steady the boy and gave a little pout. “He didn’t kiss me at all.”

 

Daniel’s mind went blank.

 

  
*   


 

Jihoon didnt know if there was a limit to teasing Daniel in one day. The older boy adored him, that much was obvious, and Jihoon loved how easily he could fluster his hyung just by dropping lines from cheesy rom-coms. 

 

“But did you mean it?” Daehwi probed as the four boys prepared for dance practice at the basement of his house.

 

“'Course not,” Jihoon replied as he reached for his toes, legs stretched out wide in front of him. “I’ve seen that look before: the oh-he’s-adorable look.’”

 

“It dies off when they realize how un-cute his personality really is,” Woojin sat on Jihoon’s back, earning a yelp of pain and a sharp smack from Jihoon. 

 

“I’m your regular teenage boy,” Jihoon countered, rubbing his back. “Not my fault people instantly assume I’m an innocent doll the moment they see me.”

 

Daehwi rolled his eyes. They had heard the “innocent” thing from other people so many times that none of them even questioned it when Jihoon brings it up. 

 

“I thought you owed this  _ hyung  _ a lot,” Jinyoung finally chirped in, doing some stretches of his own. “Some kinda childhood inspiration or something.”

 

“Yeah,” Woojin added, “you literally have a huge debt to pay.”

 

Jihoon felt that sharp twist of guilt in his gut again - his friends had a point. “Fiiiiine, I’ll quit teasing him,” he concedes, standing up to start playing music on Daehwi’s phone. Their warm up routine music blasted loud from the portable speakers and the boys took their position.

 

Jihoon was only half-focused as he let his body move to the familiar routine. He liked seeing Daniel flustered every time he quips something bordering on inappropriate, and he liked how the older boy doted on him at the cafe. But based on previous experience, the overprotective behavior of people who found him cute wore off when they realized he was more than capable on his own. Even Jinyoung used to be at the mercy of his  _ aegyo _ until they became actual friends. 

 

Daniel was on his way to becoming a true Jihoon-confidant, and when that happens - the cooing and doting will give way to a camaraderie similar to what he had with Woojin. 

 

But a part of Jihoon wanted Daniel to be all over him for just a little while longer.

 

*

  
"He could ask for my bank account PIN and I'd still give it to him," Daniel groaned into his pillow, as Seongwoo buried himself further in a pillow fort. 

 

“Jisung-hyuuuuuung~” he called out weakly, “Can we please remove Daniel from my room? If I hear anymore of his ridiculous pining for Jihoon I would throw up for the nth time today - and it’s not going to be because of the alcohol.”

 

Jisung walked in at that exact moment with a bottle of Gatorade. “Daniel acting like a lovesick puppy isn’t my fault,” he started, “and neither is your hangover. Now bringing Jaehwan out drinking and not having the common sense to just leave him there is entirely your fault. He has been laughing the whole morning and Minhyun is close to drowning him in the shower. Are you trying to kill me Ong Seongwoo? Because you’re killing me.”

 

Daniel was so used to Jisung’s litanies to Ong that it was already comforting to hear. 

 

“And you Niel,” Jisung faced Daniel’s bed.

 

Never mind, it was comforting only when the litanies weren’t for him.

 

“No flirting with the new kid,” he continued, tossing the Gatorade to a grateful Seongwoo. Daniel’s face visibly fell and Jisung tried not to laugh at how much the boy wore his hear on his sleeve, “during shifts.” 

 

Daniel looked up,  and tried to play it cool. “Me? Flirting with the new kid?” he said, fluffing the pillow he was hugging. “I just act nice and he does all the flirting on his own!” 

 

Even Seongwoo had the presence of mind to raise an eyebrow at Daniel. “Daniel, my mind is floating on seven types of alcohol right now - but do you expect anyone to believe that sweet Park Jihoon is the one making advances on  _ the  _ Kang Daniel?”    
  


“But he does!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone!!! thank you all for the comments and kudos so far and I hope this fic gave u the nielwink fix you need in dry times...
> 
> sadly i need to take a break from writing to work on my non-Nielwink related responsibilities ㅠㅠ please cheer me on and hope to be back soon ! 
> 
> next few chapters will involve Jihoon's Taiwanese exchange student buddy *wink*, jealous!Daniel, and some more of the Wanna One boys :3 Please look forward to it and leave comments/kudos so I know which direction to take the story in :3


	9. Bad Chai Lattes

Daniel was a nice person. He was a perfectly nice guy who treated each person who entered through the doors of Cafe 101 with equal love, respect, and the best customer service a part-time university student can provide. He makes sure that their coffee is exactly as they order it - be it as complex as a double espresso white chocolate mocha with jelly and pearls and a double shot of raspberry syrup (whatever that is), or as simple as a hot cup of milk. 

 

But when the Taiwanese boy in front of him - dressed in a dark green cardigan and a bright orange beanie - ordered a chai latte with two spoonfuls of sugar, he decided to put only ONE spoonful. And he added a pinch of salt just to be extra mean. 

 

(“ _ Dastardly _ ,” Seongwoo would click his tongue when Daniel tells him the story.) 

 

But he figured that just this once, the coffee shop gods would let it slip. 

 

After all, ever since the boy marched into the shop, Jihoon had been fawning over him and barely spared Daniel a glance. 

 

_ “This day started out so well…”  _ Daniel thinks, slouching dejectedly over the counter for everyone to stare at his misery. Jisung will probably spot all 67 kilos of a visibly sad Daniel moping around in his cheery cafe and slap the boy for it, but Daniel couldn’t help it.

  
  


_ Earlier that day. _

  
  


“Good morning, hyungs.”

Jihoon entered the cafe dressed in an immaculately pressed white shirt (borrowed from Daniel) tucked into his school slacks. Daniel was pouring water into the pitchers they have in preparation for the day ahead, but almost spilled what he was doing just gawking at the boy. Jihoon had already been working at the cafe everytime Daniel had his shift for a week now - but today his hair was dyed slightly lighter than the usual chocolate brown.

 

“I told you, no flirting during shifts,” Jisung lightly hit Daniel’s head with his clipboard. 

  
“This is an attack, hyung,” he whispered, eyes still glued onto the subtly blond Jihoon. 

 

“Someone looks different today,” Jisung teased as Jihoon approached to leave his pink bag and hang his coat in the backroom. 

 

“My mom got a coupon deal at some salon and decided to drag me with her so she could feel like she was getting savings out of it,” Jihoon defensively replied, ruffling his hair. “It looks bad, doesn’t it? Aish, I should’ve just gone for the ash brown.” 

 

“You look perfect,” Daniel butted in, not allowing the boy to speak badly about this new look. “I mean, it looks good with your eyes - ah, no it looks good with the ambience of the cafe- uh,” 

 

“Ok, enough of that before you hurt yourself,” Seongwoo grabbed Daniel by the collar. “But no, really, Hoon-ah, it’s a great look.” Seongwoo aimed a wink at Jihoon, intending to fluster the boy - but Jihoon cheekily shot him a wink back. 

 

“I approve of him already,” Seongwoo whispers to Daniel. 

 

“Ah, Daniel-hyung,” Jihoon started as he wrapped an apron around his waist, “Would you be able to drop by for my team’s dance practice later?”

 

“Sure thing,” Daniel readily agreed. He had met Jihoon’s dance group a few days back - when he tried using Jihoon as an excuse to get out of another Ong Seongwoo escapade. 

 

“Don’t we have some sort of group study scheduled for late-” Ong hissed, before Daniel stepped on his toe. ”I’ve done my studying last night.” Daniel lied. And Kang Daniel was a horrible liar: it convinced no one since he was doing nothing but playing online games with Jihoon the night before and everyone at their flat knew it. 

 

Daniel genuinely enjoyed the dance practice he attended at the basement of one of Jihoon’s friends. It was nowhere near the dance studios the university afforded his dance group, but there were makeshift mirrors on one side of the room and the dim light gave some dramatic effect to the practice. And this basement had one thing his dance studios never had before - Park Jihoon.

 

***

 

 

_ A few days back.  _

 

Jihoon was cute, sure. He was a cheeky brat, yes. He was smart and witty, and made Daniel laugh. A lot. But when Jihoon danced, Daniel saw a side of him that was neither that practiced cuteness nor that boyish mischief: he was just Jihoon, drowning in the intensity of a pasttime he loved.

 

“Did that seem okay, hyung?” Jihoon had asked him then after they finished with the first few parts of their routine. “Hyung?” 

 

Daniel snapped out of his stupor and looked down at the boy who was wiping his face with a towel. 

 

“Daehwi composed this?” 

 

“Yes.” 

 

“And you three choreographed?” 

 

“Mostly Woojin and me, but Jinyoung and Daehwi helped out a lot.” 

 

“Wow, that routine would’ve put my dance group juniors to shame,” Daniel clapped, grinning at the four boys. “What’s the track name, ‘Energy’?”  

 

“Energetic,” Daehwi corrected, sipping on a bottle of water. “It’s supposed to be full of youthful energy - but I haven’t written the lyrics yet so all we have are the beats for now.”

 

“Ah, I’ve got a few suggestions for some parts then,” Daniel walked to the center of the basement. 

 

Jihoon was finally seeing Daniel in his  _ real  _ element. The taller boy was overflowing with ideas for new choreography, switches in position, and was calmly assigning who gets which part. He was like this back when they were in the same school, but now he seemed like a man who had perfected his craft. 

 

“At the drop, you could arc your arms then punch your hand like this,” Daniel demonstrated, with Jinyoung and Woojin nodding and looking at him in admiration. “Also at the beginning, we could have Jihoon kneeling like this,” - he positioned Jihoon and then knelt beside him - “And someone could kneel beside him and hold his hands like this,” - Daniel both Jihoon’s hands and held them behind their backs.

 

He had his fingers laced with Jihoon’s for the duration of explaining how the position switches would go - and Jihoon hoped that if his face got redder or his face got warmer, the dimly-lit room would betray nothing. He wasn’t listening to Daniel’s explanation - and Daniel may have been oblivious to the hand-holding (it was, after all, part of the choreography) - but he was focused on how small his hands felt wrapped around Daniel’s. How warm Daniel's hands were around his - and how that low rumble of his husky voice was a comforting sound against the beats of the music. 

 

When Daniel broke the contact to stand up and continue explaining the choreography, Jihoon was surprised that he was resisting the urge to take those hands back in his. 

 

“I could ask my hyungs to help out with the lyrics,” Daniel offered helpfully to Daehwi after an hour’s worth of working through choreography. “They’re amazing vocals and can help you out with recording.”

 

“That sounds awesome, Daniel-sunbae!” Daehwi clapped, “We’re still waiting on some other friends from school to help us out after they finish studying for the exams, but we’re falling a bit behind schedule.” 

 

“Jihoon can ask me out anytime,” Daniel replied. 

 

Four pairs of eyes stared at him before he realized what he just said. Daniel flushed and started making vague moves with his arms,  “I mean, he could  _ ask me _ to  _ help you _ anytime.” 

 

Jihoon scratched his head - his hyung was admirable when he was in his element but he was a walking mess most of the time. Woojin laughed and slapped Jihoon on the back. 

 

When Daniel left them to catch a night class, Jinyoung punched Jihoon on the shoulder. “What kind of evil little child are you, wanting to take advantage of that sweet sunbae?”

 

Jihoon punched back and grinned. “Amazing, wasn’t he?”

 

" _Amazing, wasn't he?_ " Woojin mimicked, batting his eyelashes and raising his leg. Jihoon smacked his friend on the head but couldn't wipe the smile from his face.

 

***

 

 

“Ah, we could handle the choreography if you have group study tonight, hyung,” Jihoon stated, putting some menus on the tables in the cafe. “Then you could come check us out once we finish.”

 

“At least take Jaehwan later? He already agreed to help Daehwi out,” Daniel offered, having asked a favor from his flatmate. ( _ “Sure why not,” Jaehwan had said - he needed to practice his songwriting skills anyway. _ )

 

“Or take me!” Seongwoo chimed in and started doing exaggerated moves, “Do you not trust in my dancing abilities?” 

 

“But hyung...aren’t you in the same study group?”

 

Just then, the door chime rang and all four of them prepared to greet the first customer of the day. 

 

“Good morn-”

 

“Guanlin?” 

 

The three hyungs whipped their heads to Jihoon, who briskly walked toward the newcomer - a tall, lanky boy who had a huge smile on. “Auntie did say you would look extra pretty today.” 

 

“Handsome. Someone should teach you better Korean.” 

 

“No, no,  _ pretty _ .” 

 

“Say _pretty_ one more time and I’ll get you deported.”

 

Guanlin cheekily mouthed to the hyungs behind him - “pretty” - while pointing both fingers at Jihoon.  

 

Jihoon spun around to see Jisung with both eyebrows raised, Seongwoo with a confused expression, and Daniel looking like he contracted diarrhea. 

 

“Ah, hyungs,” he remembered himself, “This is Lai Guanlin. He’s-”

 

“Jihoon-hyung’s boyfriend.”

 

Daniel dropped the pitcher of water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back~! Will try to keep a regular weekly update for the rest of the chapters, let's see how it goes! 
> 
> As always, please do leave comments/kudos to let me know if you're enjoying the story so far! (ELSE WE WILL HAVE GUANLIN SUFFERING WITH SALTY CHAI LATTES UNTIL THE END OF THIS FIC)
> 
> If you would like to say hello, I'm @cheesehoonie over at Twitter :3 See you in the next chapter!


	10. Rivals?

Jihoon pulled off Guanlin’s beanie and stuffed it in the taller boy’s face.

 

“You can’t be the _oppa_ of your hyung, idiot,” Jihoon nearly shouts. “You spend a year under my care and you still mix your words? You shame my teaching skills.”

 

“And Daniel-hyung,” Jihoon turns to Daniel and lamented. “I mopped the floor clean last night!”

 

Jihoon fusses over the floor like the biggest issue in the room was spilled water and wrong grammar and not the daggers Kang Daniel was throwing at Lai Guanlin’s beanie-stuffed face.

 

And Lai Guanlin shot back with a look that indicated that he most definitely meant to say ‘boyfriend’.

 

And so Daniel hopes that the tall boy had an intolerance for the salt he just sprinkled in the chai latte he was now sipping. Daniel claimed a small victory when Guanlin’s face registered confusion at the latte’s taste, but otherwise the boy continued reading his book while occupying the seat beside the window.

 

It didn’t help that Jisung and Seongwoo were teasing Jihoon now - “Jihoonie, maybe your _boyfriend_ needs a glass of water” or “Hoon-ah, it seems your _boyfriend_ wants a slice of cheesecake” - and Jihoon’s ears would burn red. “He just mixes up his words!”

 

“How did you end up meeting this boyf- _OW!_ \- friend?” Seongwoo interrogated, leaning against the counter to hold conversation with the newly-blond boy who was wiping trays. Jihoon had delivered a swift punch to Seongwoo’s arm, and Daniel swore he’d balance out the other half as well if Seongwoo didn’t stop with the whole _boyfriend_ thing soon. It was nearly lunchtime and the cafe was starting to fill up with the regular clientele, the familiar sound of the jazz playlist providing enough cover for them to gossip about Lai Guanlin.

 

“He was an exchange student who stayed at our house last year,” Jihoon huffed. “I don’t know if he’s extraordinarily brave or just plain stupid, because the only words he knew how to say when he got here was _samgyeopsal_ and _bingsu_.”

 

“He used to be such a cute dongsaeng,” Jihoon mused. “He went back to Taiwan and came back here yesterday and now he’s taller than a lamppost.”

 

“And obviously has a massive crush on you,” Jisung comments as he passed by.

 

Jihoon and Daniel start coughing at the same time that Seongwoo had to gag. “I don’t think it’s a crush?” Jihoon defends, hands held in front of him. “He’s only 16 and tends to get very clingy.”

 

“Yeah, I bet the boy warms up to just about anyone,” Daniel helps out, and Jisung shoots him a look. Seongwoo decides to have some fun and pats Daniel.

 

“Okay, let’s try this. Why don’t you go over there, Niel, and pretend to ask Guanlinnie some survey questions? Let’s see if he’s just friendly.”

 

Daniel wanted to kick his friend.

 

***

 

“Hey,” Daniel greeted, deciding to give the Taiwanese boy a chance to redeem himself.

 

“Sup,” Guanlin casually greeted, looking up expectantly from his book.

 

Daniel awkwardly takes the seat across him. “So, I was wondering if you are okay to take some survey questions regarding the service?”

 

“Sure thing,” Guanlin shuts his book and looks at Daniel, who takes out a pen.

 

“Great!” Daniel almost feels guilty as he read the first question that Seongwoo scrawled on the paper. “So, how was the drink you were served today?”

 

“It’s…” Guanlin looked like he was trying to find the right word to use. “Acceptable?”

 

Daniel continued asking the questions from the sheet - thankful that Seongwoo actually put in relevant questions. Then finally:

 

“Any other comments/suggestions?”

 

The boy paused for a while to think.

 

“Ah, the staff is abnormally good-looking,” Guanlin grins, “Especially the blond server.”

 

“Isn’t he? Haha,” Daniel forces a laugh but crumples the paper he had been taking notes on. ”You’re pretty cute yourself, haha.”

 

“Am I?” Guanlin gapes, “Ah, hyung. Do you think Jihoon-hyung and I would look good together?”

 

Daniel took the boy by the lapels of his cardigan and hurled him crashing out the window.

 

…or at least that’s what happened in his mind - instead he puts on a sweet smile. “Ah, I think you’re still too young to be thinking about these things.”

 

“I might ask him out while I’m here in Korea,” Guanlin was clueless to Daniel’s real intentions. Or he was sly enough to keep pushing. “But he keeps insisting that he has exams to study for.”

 

“Ah, yes, and you should be studying too!” Daniel was thankful for examinations for the first time in his life. “Thanks for your time, Guanlin! Let me just get back to-”  
  
“Oh, hyung, can I order a strawberry frappuccino? Extra sweet.”

 

“Sure thing.” Daniel grinned as he walked back to the counter.

 

“Wow, you two got along well,” Jihoon commented. He had been watching the entire exchange, worried that Guanlin might spill something stupid to Daniel. “Did he say anything...about me?”

 

Daniel gulps. “He thinks the staff is abnormally handsome,” he starts, figuring out a way to lie but not lie at the same time. While thinking of a white lie, he fixes his gaze on Seongwoo who was preparing a cup of espresso. Jihoon follows his line of sight, and giggles. “Are you kidding me? Guanlin is ogling Seongwoo-hyung?”

 

Daniel was taken by surprise but decides to play along. After all, Guanlin did say “the staff” was good-looking. Seongwoo was “staff”.

 

He neither confirmed nor denied what Jihoon said, and smiled at the giggling boy.

 

“So, Jihoonie…” Daniel was about to ask Jihoon if he needed help with studying for exams after he finished with dance practice that evening (and after Daniel finished with group-study), when suddenly,

 

“Jihoon-hyung,” Guanlin calls from his seat. Jihoon holds up a hand and excuses himself to go to the younger boy’s table, and Daniel remembered that Guanlin had an order for a strawberry frappuccino.

 

Excusing himself one last time to the coffee shop gods, Kang Daniel prepares the strawberry frappuccino but used soymilk and made sure that there was absolutely no sugar. And maybe he also put in a few shakes of chili powder. Okay, maybe more than a few.

 

After he finished with his ‘frappuccino’, he walks over to the table and finds Jihoon spelling out words for Guanlin.

 

“Okay, so this is how you write ‘date’, and this is how you write ‘sweetheart’,” Jihoon was saying, scrawling on a tissue paper.

 

“Hyung, how do you write, ‘please go out with me?’” Guanlin grinned, watching Jihoon pick the pen up again and scratch characters on the tissue.

 

“Will...you go...out with me…” Jihoon enunciates as he wrote down the characters.  

 

“Of cou-” Guanlin started, only to be interrupted by Daniel.

 

“Hey, here’s that extra sweet strawberry frappuccino,” he said, placing the cup on top of the tissue paper Jihoon was writing on.

 

“Aish, hyung!” Jihoon started to complain, the tissue quickly melting at the contact of a sweating glass. “Now I have to write that all over again!”

 

“Ah sorry! I can help Guanlin out instead,” Daniel sits down beside Jihoon, pushing him further into the booth. He takes a paper and a pen, wrote something on the piece of paper (“will you go out with me” he mouths), and hands it over to Guanlin.

 

Guanlin takes the paper and shoots Daniel a confused expression, but pockets the paper anyway. “Thanks hyung…?”

 

“Anytime,” Daniel smiles.

 

“Oh, hyung,” Guanlin regards Daniel with one last “what are you doing” expression, and turns to Jihoon. "I got you this strawberry frappuccino. Extra sweet.”

 

“Wow, thanks Guanlin! You shouldn-” Jihoon was about to tell Guanlin that he shouldn’t be drinking what they were selling, but was again interrupted by Daniel who took the glass and drank down the whole thing.

 

Jihoon and Guanlin watched the whole thing with eyes opened wide.

 

Daniel offered a silent prayer as he gulped down the horrible concoction he was supposed to serve poor Guanlin, and immediately repented for what he had been planning to do. The drink tasted horrible - all tangy strawberry and hot spice. “Hyung?”

 

“Ah! Sorry,” Daniel faked surprise and willed the tears forming at the edges of his eyes to stop. “I thought he was referring to me! Really Guanlin, you shouldn’t have…”

 

“Daniel! Jihoon!” Jisung’s voice came from across the room, and they noticed that several groups of people had entered the cafe as they were talking.

 

The two scrambled up and ran over, leaving Guanlin confused at what just happened. He took the piece of paper from his pocket and scanned it. Daniel was supposed to write “Will you go out with me”, but Guanlin finds himself reading, “Will you go out.”

 

He looks up to see Jihoon and Daniel bickering over the strawberry frappuccino.

 

“It seems I have a rival,” Guanlin sighs.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clear it up, Guanlin used the word "oppa" which could mean both boyfriend and older brother (if a girl says it to a boy). 
> 
> Sorry for the lack of updates, have a short chapter to get irrational jealous Daniel out of the way!  
> Watch Daniel go back to normal and Jihoon get a buttload of fluff in the next chapter :3
> 
> Please leave kudos/comments~! And see you on the next chapter!


	11. Confessions and Rejections

The next couple of weeks were not easy on Park Jihoon. 

 

He got home late every night after dance practice with his classmates, and had to get up early to meet Daniel’s shift at the coffee shop, and then he was off to study some more for the upcoming exams. Rinse and repeat. 

 

And then there were issues: Samuel’s dance group decided to form their own competition number without telling Daehwi, and now Jihoon’s team was lacking a lot of members. 

 

And the cherry on top of his already-stressful cake was how strange Guanlin and Daniel were behaving lately. 

  
  
  
  


Exhibit A.    
  


Guanlin visited the coffee shop every single day, and would often ask Jihoon to prepare whatever drink he wanted to have. Since Jihoon was only a few weeks into the job, he knew nothing about the drinks preparation part of the work. Daniel would adamantly request to prepare it instead after Guanlin turns around, and simply asks Jihoon to put some cream or sprinkles on top so it looked like he was the one who prepared it.   
  


“How’s the drink Guanlin?” Jihoon would usually consult with the younger boy.    
  


Guanlin would swallow thickly, put on his brightest smile, and declare, “Your drinks are always the best!”    
  


Jihoon thought that maybe Guanlin should request for Daniel instead, since he liked the mix so much.   
  


(Guanlin would always taste something wrong with his drink – but if Jihoon made it, he can tolerate it. Daniel would stifle a laugh behind the counter as he watches Guanlin “enjoy” the drink in front of Jihoon.)   
  
  


  
  
  


Exhibit B.    
  


Jihoon took an exam at a local college, and was surprised to see Guanlin waiting at the train station when he finished. Guanlin had a box of sweets with him, and was already congratulating Jihoon. 

 

“That’s not how it works, dummy,” Jihoon answered, a bit too snappy. He was convinced he had failed the math portion of the exam. He softened his tone when he saw Guanlin’s expression fall, and took the box. “Exam results come out after a few weeks, and I’m pretty sure I mixed up all my variables and constants.”

 

“You know what’s constant, hyung?” Guanlin followed as the blonde boy walked down to the station while popping a sweet in his mouth. He blocked Jihoon’s way suddenly.

 

“Me.” 

 

“Constantly stalking me you mean?” Jihoon raised an eyebrow. “Did eomma send you to deliver these? She already knew I was going to fail…” Before Guanlin could answer-

 

“Is that Park Jihoon?” 

 

Daniel’s familiar face showed up near the ticket booths, and a horrified look registered on Guanlin’s pale face.

 

“Hyung!” Jihoon nearly choked on the second sweet he was munching on. Guanlin noted that Jihoon turned a shade pinker. “What are you do-”

 

“I’m meeting with a friend here,” Daniel quickly explained, trying to be casual. “But she ditched me last minute. Even got her flowers and everything.” Daniel held up a pink bouquet of camellias and carnations.

 

“You’re dating someone, hyung?” Guanlin asked, smiling at the thought. 

 

“Nah, I wish I were though.” Daniel was looking straight at Jihoon before turning back to Guanlin. “She’s not really my friend, she’s my, uh, cousin. Flowers were supposed to be for her mom.” Guanlin wanted to gag at how bad a liar Daniel was.

 

“Hey, you like pink, right?” Daniel grinned at Jihoon. “Mind taking these off me?”

 

“Wha-” Jihoon protested, but the flowers were already shoved into his arms and Daniel was already running out of the station.

 

“I owe you, Jihoonie!” 

 

(Jihoon got home with a huge bouquet of pink roses and a box of chocolates. His mom gasped and shed a tear, and Jihoon could not even bring himself to explain what happened at the train station.)

 

(But he did like the flowers, to the point of transferring them to a proper vase in his room rather than throwing them out. 

 

Actually, if he were being completely honest, he  _ loved _ the flowers.)

  
  
  
  


Exhibit C.

 

Daniel would show up to Jihoon’s dance practice all the time. He was convinced that his hyung was only taking a couple of units in college with the amount of free time he seemed to have. Guanlin would also be there at dance practice, trying to help Daehwi come up with lyrics for the song.    
Daniel pitched in as well, arguing with Guanlin on the right lyrics for rap part.    
  


“I swear, Jihoon,” Woojin whispered as Jihoon came down to the basement to see Daniel and Guanlin already there. “If you drag enough of your boyfriends to the dance practice, we’ll have enough to complete the 11-person requirement.”

 

“If all of your friends went to dance practice, you’ll be the only one here,” Jihoon replied, driving an elbow into Woojin’s ribs.

 

“No use just arguing over it, let’s hear who does it better,” Daehwi announced, exasperated at the two boys trying to make a competition out of his song. “How about you both give it a shot at the phrasing, and let’s have the others vote on who did it better?”   
Both boys nodded and Daehwi assembled Jihoon, Jinyoung, and Woojin in a semicircle around the two.

 

“1, 2, 3, and 4; don’t like those other guys next to you,” Guanlin enunciated, eyes fixed on the paper to ensure he didn’t mispronounce any of the lyrics. To be fair, Jihoon thought, Guanlin’s Korean was much better when he was given a beat. He gave the maknae a thumbs up for the effort.    
“Okay, Daniel-hyung next,” Daehwi clapped and all eyes switched from Guanlin to the boy next to him.   
  


Daniel looked up from the piece of paper with his own scrawl and markings on where to pause during the rap.  His eyes met Jihoon’s directly and the younger could swear he had to hold his breath. Daniel’s eyes were completely absorbed by the song, and his aura shifted from bright and bubbly to intense and dangerous. His eyes didn’t break contact with Daniel’s as the older boy began,   
  


“Uh,” the voice came out husky, languid, and entirely sure of what he was about to say. “ _1,2,3 and 4; don’t like those other guys next to you. Who am I? A killer who protects only you.”_   
  


Daniel finishes, and all of them agree that Daniel rapped the part better – a bit more mature and confident. Guanlin gave a smile as he conceded with the initial glimmer of admiration in his eyes for Daniel. Jihoon, on the other hand, licked his dry lips and tried to calm down his beating heart: Daniel was still looking at him with the same intense expression.

 

(And at that exact moment, Jihoon finally stopped denying it.

 

He had a  _ massive _ crush on Kang Daniel.)

  
  


***

 

“Today,” Daniel huffed in front of the mirror, fixing his hair for the nth time that morning. “I’ll tell him today. How do I look?” He spun around to face Seongwoo, who was lying down on the bed, yawning.

“Like a freaking train wreck,” came the reply. “Really, Daniel, if that boy still doesn’t see this coming from a mile away despite you having the subtlety of a wrecking ball-“

“Aish, but what if he doesn’t like me back and things end up being awkward? Maybe I should tell him once he’s paid his whole debt off…” Daniel plopped onto the bed, effectively pushing Seongwoo off. All Daniel’s clothes were scattered around the room, the boy not able to choose what Jihoon would like to see him in for the day.

“I’m more worried about the scenario where he  _ does _ like you back and I’ll have to deal with you making out in the backroom during shifts,” Jisung commented from the floor. He was busy picking up after Daniel by folding all the clothes that were haphazardly thrown around.

“Imagine them holding hands under the table and everything,” Seongwoo added and pretended to throw up. “And then a few days later I’ll be thrown out of this room because ‘Jihoon came over’.”

“AHH, hyung!” Daniel threw pillows at the two. “This isn’t helping at all!” Daniel took off his shirt and threw it again. He covered his red face with both hands and tried to calm himself down as the two older boys snickered.

“Put a shirt on, Niel,” Jisung tuts, picking up the shirt again. “You make an obscene centerpiece to this room.”

“No, no, leave him,” Seongwoo countered as he snapped a few pictures of his topless roommate in the middle of his whining. “I can use these photos to sell him to blind dates if his confession doesn’t go as planned.”

“Just make sure to leave out the part where he’s behaving like an overgrown child,” Jisung adds.

“Come on, your beloved blondie might already be downstairs waiting for you so he can start his shift,” Seongwoo pushes Daniel off the bed with his foot.

“But  _ hyuuung _ , what will Jihoon say?”

“Hi everyone,” a voice came from the doorway and the three boys screamed. Jihoon recoiled from the doorway like a frightened kitten, his brain hardly processing what was so shocking about the scenario.

 

The door was abruptly slammed closed and Jihoon could hear muffled voices from inside, “ _ shit, Daniel, I told you to put a shirt on”, “what is he doing here? WHAT IS HE DOING HERE!”  _ as well as howling laughter from Seongwoo.

 

“Hey, keep it down!” Minhyun shouts from the common area as he tried to read a book.

 

“Are they normally like this, hyung?” Jihoon looks at him, pointing at the still-closed door.

 

“Usually it’s Jaehwan and Sungwoon,” Minhyun commented, gesturing to Jihoon that he should take a seat. “But lately Daniel’s been acting like a lovestruck teenager.  _ I wonder why. _ ” Minhyun smirked – there was a subtle change in his expression that Jihoon just barely caught.

 

“Ah,” Jihoon blushes as he sits down beside Minhyun.  _ Hell, he was a lovestruck teenager himself.  _ “How so?”

 

“Well, he’s always messaging someone on the phone and then he  _ smiles  _ out of nowhere,” Minhyun said as he put down his book on the table. “I mean, Daniel’s always smiling but-you get the point.”

 

_ Smiling while texting…check. _

 

“Then he goes out and buys flowers. Did you know the amount of time he spent researching the meaning of flowers? I’ve never seen him focus that much on studies,” Minhyun continued.

 

“Pink carnations? And camellias?” Jihoon wondered now if the flowers really were meant for a “sick 

aunt” or if Daniel was supposed to meet just “his cousin.” He fidgeted with his sleeves.

 

“Yeah. Oh, and if you see his school notes they all have names doodled at the back,” Minhyun said, “it’s almost embarrassing to flip through them.”

 

Jihoon remembered his own notes, and how he had to rip off a page worth of “KANG DANIEL x PARK JIHOON” written in fancy lettering at the back when Woojin asked to borrow them.  _ Check. _

At this point, Daniel finally managed to run out of the room. “What are you doing here, Jihoonie?”

“I let him in, Daniel,” Minhyun says, taking his book and heading to his room. “Poor boy looked lonely waiting for you downstairs.” Minhyun gave a wink and gestured ‘fighting!’ as he passed by behind Jihoon.

 

“Ah, sorry for being too early, hyung,” Jihoon worried his bottom lip. Daniel mentally noted that he’d probably need to reapply lip balm with the amount of lip biting he was doing.  _ Peach lip balm would taste good on those lips,  _ Daniel thinks before he literally slapped his face to focus. “I had something I wanted to talk about before the shift started.”

 

“Oh? Well, uh, same here,” Daniel scratched his neck.

 

“Do you know any place where we can talk…privately?” Jihoon asked, eyes widening as he looked somewhere behind Daniel. The older boy spun around and saw Jisung, Seongwoo, and Minhyun peeking from the door and giggling.  _ The subtlety of a wrecking ball.  _ Daniel figured he could smother them all in their sleep.

 

“Ah, we can head upstairs? The apartment rooftop is empty now,” Daniel stood, and Jihoon followed closely behind. They heard hooting laughter as they closed the apartment door. 

 

_ Forget smothering them in their sleep _ , Daniel thought.  _ I’ll just poison their dinner tonight. _

  
  


***

  
  


When they arrived at the rooftop, Daniel was thankful that their neighbors didn’t have any dirty laundry hanging out. It was just clear sky, lawnchairs, and beautiful Park Jihoon leaning over the balustrade and the wind tossing his hair up in different directions. 

 

“You can see my house from here!” Jihoon exclaims, laughing as he stared into the distance. The wind was blowing on his oversized yellow coat, and the cold air left his cheeks with a red blush. 

 

“Daniel-hyung!” Jihoon called, still laughing.

 

And at that moment Daniel figured that he needed to tell Jihoon everything; because if he had to wait one more day before he could hold those small hands in his and taste the cherry gloss of those lips, he might as well just jump off the rooftop. 

 

Daniel walked over to the balustrade and leaned back, staring at the laughing boy. “I’m glad I made that stupid bet with Woojin,” Jihoon smiled, hands tightly clasping the railing and leaning forward a bit.  

 

“I’m glad you broke the china while you were at it,” Daniel grinned, hand automatically reaching to grab Jihoon’s coat in case the boy fell over forward. “Careful.”

 

“Aish, don’t bring that up, I still have thousands of won to go,” Jihoon scoffed, now leaning back as well. Jihoon started fidgeting with the zipper of his coat. “But to tell you the truth, I’ll keep on breaking Miss Boa’s stuff if it meant staying here a bit longer.” 

 

Jihoon peeked at Daniel, only to find the older boy staring at him intently. Jihoon stared back at his coat zipper as he felt a hot blush creeping up his cheek.

 

“I mean, the hyungs are all nice; my friends get free coffee when they come over,”  Jihoon continued. “Seongwoo-hyung keeps sending me strange messages and most people would find that creepy, but...he’s fine I guess? Well, what I was trying to say is that…”

 

It was Daniel’s first time to see Jihoon rambling, and he found it adorable. He rested his chin on his hand as he composed his confession in his head. It hardly occurred to Daniel that Jihoon was attempting to confess as well. 

 

Jihoon swallowed and shut his eyes tight.

 

“Well, I hope it doesn’t come off as...weird or anything, but I think I li-” 

 

_RING! RING!_

 

Jihoon cursed internally as his own phone betrayed him and ruined the moment. He had spent the past few days figuring out how to properly tell Daniel his feelings but here he was, rambling like a lunatic. And now a phone call from Woojin. 

 

As if he couldn’t be even more distracted. 

 

As Jihoon debated whether or not he would pick up the call, Daniel nudged him. “Pick up, might be good news.” Daniel was nervous, but elated. Was Jihoon about to say something bordering on liking Daniel? He had a very good feeling about this now, and wasn’t going to let Jihoon beat him to the punch. Hopefully the phone call would distract the blonde boy enough so Daniel could say he liked him first.

 

Jihoon nodded and fished out his phone from his coat pocket. He raised two fingers and walked a few steps away to take the call.

 

“What the actual hell, Woojin,” Jihoon whispered, rage dripping from his voice. 

 

“Just wanted to check if my best friend is officially off the single-and-available market? Poor Guanlin has been moping at my house all day.” 

 

Jihoon felt slightly guilty. Guanlin had admitted his crush for Jihoon a few days back as well - it was even written in an elegant note all in Korean. And as much as Jihoon loved his dongsaeng, he was already dead-set on admitting his feelings to Daniel. 

 

Guanlin took it surprisingly well, but asked to stay at Woojin’s house for a while.

 

And then suddenly, a thought hit Jihoon. Minhyun had said that Daniel was acting all lovestruck with the texting, and the flowers, and the notes - but Jihoon didn’t bother to ask exactly  _ who  _ Daniel was pining over. And it may be the girl he was waiting for at the train station. Or one of his blind dates. 

 

Jihoon was staring at an impending rejection. His mind suddenly went on overdrive and he realized that he didn’t really think through all the ways this could have played out.

 

“Sh-shut up, Woojin,” Jihoon replied lamely, his voice suddenly caught in his throat. “Was that all you called for?”

 

“Unfortunately I’ve got some bad news,” Woojin’s voice suddenly became serious. Jihoon suddenly remembered that the college acceptance letters for one of the universities he applied for were arriving today. He had told Woojin to call him right away if theirs arrived. 

 

“Goodbye to National University for me?” Jihoon whispered. 

 

“For us,” Woojin replied, then tried to make light of the situation. “Which is why I need your new boyfriend to deal with your tears because I would like to mope beside Guanlin today.”

 

“Yeah. Thanks, Woojin - see you.” 

 

_ Click. _

 

Jihoon trudged back to where Daniel was standing, still all smiles and radiant as ever. He figured he could just condense all his rejections in one day. 

 

“What was the call abo-” 

 

“I think I like you, Kang Daniel.” Jihoon barely looked up from his shoes. “You don’t need to feel bad or anything. I just figured I need to get that off my chest. I hope things don’t get awkward, and I can definitely try to get over these feelings. It’s probably just a small crush,” 

 

He looked up to see a stunned Daniel and he smiled bitterly. “I just got rejected from the National University, so I figured I’d use up all my rejections for today.”  

 

Daniel was still staring at him like he grew a second head, so Jihoon took a few steps going toward the stairway down. “If you want, as soon as we go down from this rooftop - I can pretend like I never said anythi-” 

 

The next thing Jihoon felt was a strong hand on his arm --

 

“Shut up, Park Jihoon.”

  
  


\-- and then Daniel’s lips on his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :O !!!!
> 
> (Comments and kudos greatly appreciated I MYSELF DON'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT THIS)


	12. Phone-a-Friend and Coffee Stains

Jihoon wasn’t quite sure how long Daniel kissed him or  _ when _ he started kissing back, but he knew that it ended when Daniel’s calloused fingers traced his jaw. Jihoon pulled back abruptly, both eyes open in obvious shock, and Daniel had seen that expression too many times from different people and braced himself for a barrage of slaps (in Jihoon’s case, punches).

 

But Jihoon just stood there, hair mussed by the wind, pretty mouth half-open and face flushed red, and wondering how it was possible to have a winter season this warm. Daniel still had one hand on an iron grip on Jihoon’s arm, and the other held up defensively in front of his face.

 

“Jihoo-“

 

“What was that?” Jihoon mumbled, eyes breaking contact and staring back down at the floor.

 

“Huh?” Daniel loosened his grip on Jihoon and stooped a bit to get a glimpse of the younger’s face.

 

“I said, I think I like you, and suddenly you  _ kiss  _ me?” Jihoon said, almost sounding like he was convincing himself that the kiss really happened. Daniel was now beyond confused, but he licked his lips and tasted cherry lip balm – and he was pretty damn sure he liked the flavor.

 

“That was my  _ first kiss _ , hyung!” Jihoon wailed, fingers pulling at his blonde locks. “It wasn’t supposed to be at a random rooftop!”

 

Daniel didn’t think Jihoon was one who cared for these kinds of things – the boy flirted like a professional yet never had his first kiss? He scratched the back of his neck and replied, “Well, where do you want me to kiss you, Jihoonie?”

 

Jihoon stared at him like he just threatened to kidnap the younger’s firstborn, and in a few seconds Jihoon had him in a headlock as he was being wrestled to the floor.

 

“Ow, ow! Park Jihoon, ow!” he yelled, shielding himself from Jihoon’s violent attacks. “This is not how these things are supposed to turn out!”

 

Daniel had kissed other people – some cute, some shy, some bold – and his surprise kisses were often met by a soft giggle and a lot of handholding and cuddling.

  
  


Apparently, when pretty boys like Park Jihoon get kissed, they beat you up.

 

***

Jihoon had stormed down from the rooftop in a huff, not exactly sure how he was feeling at the moment. He went straight down to the café and locked himself up in the backroom after giving a quick nod to Jaehwan who was manning the lazy morning shift.

 

Finally alone, he tried to calm down. First, he got rejected from one of the universities he applied for.  _ Sad, but it wasn’t his first choice anyway. Manageable. _

 

Second, he bit the bullet and confessed his crush for Kang Daniel in a rush and he may accidentally have used the pity card. Jihoon winced.  _ Probably not his best decision. _

 

Third, Kang Daniel kissed him after said confession.  _ Blank. His heart was still racing at the thought, he couldn’t expect his brain to process that just yet. _

 

Fourth, he just left Daniel writhing on the rooftop after treating him like a human punching bag.

Jihoon groaned as he moved to the last resort he had in desperate times like these.

  
  


“Woojin,” he whispered into his cellphone as his best friend picked up.

 

“I told you, I’m busy bawling my eyes out,” Woojin started, tone flat.

 

Jihoon ignored his friend’s theatrics, “Asking for a friend. What’s a boy to do if Kang Daniel kisses you after you confess?”

 

“You kissed him already?” Woojin shouted, and Jihoon heard a grown man cry like a baby in the background. Jihoon held his phone away from his face to check if he was still in the call with Woojin as the ugly wailing continued.

 

“Sorry about that, you were on speakerphone and Guanlin’s fake-crying over cereal.” Woojin explained.

 

“Stop torturing him,” Jihoon chided. “And I did not kiss him, he kissed me,” Jihoon knew he was half-lying, he kissed back and he liked it.

 

“I knew that man was a sex offender,” Guanlin’s voice was muffled in the background. “I’ll mess up his grades!”

 

“Woojin, you asshole, take me off speakerphone,” Jihoon concluded that this call was a mess. “And Guanlin, no, messing up someone’s grades isn’t really a threat.”

 

“Sit your foreign ass back down, Guanlin,” Woojin said, “We go after Kang Daniel when you can  _ fluently _ threaten his entire bloodline.”

 

Jihoon heard some shifts in furniture and figured that Guanlin must have been sulking.

 

“ _ I will find him and I will kill him _ ,” came Guanlin’s voice from a distance, speaking in perfect English now.

 

“As I was saying, Jihoon,” Woojin said, “Isn’t this good news? He likes you back!”

 

“He didn’t exactly say he liked me – he just…kissed me.”

 

“Hold on - does he hang around with flirty fuckboys?”

 

_ Ong Seongwoo.Check. _

 

“…yes.”

 

“How many exes does he have?”

 

_ All those girls from the blind dates. _

 

“…. A bunch?”

 

There was a deep breath on the other line.

 

“Okay, Jihoon – I have good news and bad news…and great news.” Woojin cleared his throat and carried on solemnly. “The good news, buddy, is that was probably one hell of a kiss.”

 

Jihoon’s blush flared at remembering Daniel’s lips and the tilt of his head that made kissing back so much easier. It was an assault on his senses – seeing Daniel’s handsome face come dangerously close, lips soft and tasting of his own cherry lip balm, the low groan that hid the husky quality of his voice, Daniel smelling like a fresh shower and peaches, and the feeling that he very much wanted to do it all over again.

 

He was drawn out of his reverie with Woojin’s southern drawl, “The bad news is, he probably kisses anyone who admits to having a crush on him. I mean, you didn’t even clarify his intentions about the kiss.”

 

Jihoon wanted to deny it – because in all his week’s part-timing, Daniel didn’t nearly have as many dates as Seongwoo. But Daniel had the looks, the appeal, the freaking _ audacity  _ to suddenly kiss someone out of nowhere. And to top it off, he may have just kissed Jihoon for the reaction.

 

(Jihoon was unfortunately the world’s best pessimist.)

 

“And the great news is,” Woojin continued. “Guanlin is still very much single.”

 

Jihoon could hear cheering and annoying laughter as he pressed End Call on what was probably the most useless “Phone-a-Friend” encounter of his life.

 

***

“I can’t have you serving customers looking like that,” Jisung commented as Daniel strapped on his apron for the day’s shift.

 

Jihoon was already flitting about the tables, all smiles at the customers as he chatted with them briefly.

 

“Blame that adorable puff of violent potential,” Daniel murmured, rubbing his jaw where it had been punched.

 

“Just what did you do, Daniel?” Seongwoo leaned over the counter, talking in a low whisper. “It was either it went well – like really,  _ really _ well – but I don’t think our little Jihoonie is into that kind of thing… _ yet” -  _ Seongwoo waggles his eyebrows at the insinuation as Daniel cringed – “and the neighbors would’ve called us up if there was illegal activity on the rooftop,” Seongwoo continued, earning an eyeroll from Daniel. 

 

“Or he hates you so much he went all Muhammad Ali on you when you told him you liked him.”  

 

“I’m betting on the latter,” Jisung commented, now also leaning on the counter as Jihoon seemed to be incredibly proactive this morning – leaving the hyungs with almost nothing to do.

 

“I haven’t even told him I like him yet,” Daniel groans, eyes still transfixed at Jihoon and wondering what he did wrong.

 

“Aish, you’re hopeless,” Seongwoo groaned. “Let me just march on over to him and tell him how absolutely juvenile this whole thing is.”

 

“No, don’t!” Daniel put an arm around Seongwoo to stop him from moving further.

 

“Let me go, you huge sack of teenage feelings,” Seongwoo replied, prying Daniel’s arm off of him. “This needs to end because I’m sick of hearing ‘ _ he loves me-he loves me not’ _ in my room!”

 

“Don’t do it, hyung,” Daniel hissed, pulling Seongwoo further in; and Seongwoo was now applying a similar force.

 

Jisung was about to smack the two for roughhousing during work hours, only for Jihoon to suddenly drop in to pick up one of the drinks he was about to serve.

 

“Fine, suit yourself,” Seongwoo gave a sly grin before letting go of Daniel, who promptly backpedaled into Jihoon and the frappe he was carefully holding.

 

The drink sloshed all over the front of Jihoon’s (well, Daniel’s) immaculate white shirt. Jisung almost cried out in shock in case the coffee burned Jihoon, but the barista who prepared the drink was still grinning – it was an iced frappe after all.

 

Daniel turned around in horror at the small blonde boy, pretty face outwardly calm but he figured was seething with rage – the brown splotches on his shirt contrasting with the otherwise perfect getup.

 

“I’m so sorry, oh my g-“ Daniel stepped back and covered his mouth with his hand.

 

“Rule #1, Niel-hyung.” Jihoon calmly began, but Daniel braced himself as Jihoon started cracking his knuckles. “No apologizing.”

  
  


“Okay, you boys need a timeout,” Jisung’s voice came soft and even, reminding the two of how Miss Boa dealt with them earlier. “I want the both of you inside my office,”

 

“Hyung,” Daniel whined, earning him a head turn and a sharp staredown.

 

“In 3…”

 

“But Jisung-hyung, I didn’t even-“ Jihoon started, his eyes wide with disbelief. Jisung faced him and  _ glared. _

 

“2…”

 

Both boys left everything and started rushing towards the backroom.

 

Ong was snickering until Jisung pushed a mop into his arms.

 

“And what are you laughing about?” Jisung smirked as he followed the two boys into the backroom at a leisurely pace.

 

***  

 

“You have seven minutes,” Jisung deadpanned, arms crossed in front of him and the two boys sitting on Monobloc chairs across each other. “Once you go back out there, I want you two smiling like you just came out of Everland. And no more punching or I’ll turn you in to the toddler police, Park Jihoon.”

 

When Jisung had left the room and  _ locked  _ the door behind him, Jihoon groaned.

Daniel produced a handkerchief from his pocket and reached out to pat it across the younger’s chest.

 

“Ya!” Jihoon shouted in shock, pulling his chair back a bit farther from Daniel.

 

“You can take off the shirt if you like,” Daniel offered, hands outstretched with the handkerchief on it, and Jihoon could feel the heat rise up his cheeks.

 

“If you’re thinking I’m taking my clothes off when you ask just because I said I  _ think  _ I like you, you’ve got another thing coming, hyung,” Jihoon couldn’t control his words, now very wary in case Daniel tried anything.

 

“What?” Daniel raised both eyebrows, shocked at what Jihoon was hinting at.

 

“What?” Jihoon was equally confused with the reaction.

 

Then it suddenly dawned on Daniel.

 

“I’m not trying to do anything!” Daniel realized that he may have been mistaken for a pervert with the kiss and now with the shirt. “Oh my god, Jihoonie no,” Daniel scratched at his head. “I was going to get you a new shirt upstairs!”

 

“Oh,” Jihoon lamely said, embarrassed. There was a few beats of silence before Daniel broke it with a small cough.

 

“I’m sorry about earlier, Jihoonie,” Daniel began nervously. “I shouldn’t have assumed that you wanted a kiss.”

 

Jihoon looked up at his hyung, and wondered if he overreacted to the whole thing.

 

Daniel was sitting in front of him looking like an abandoned puppy, and suddenly he was very sure that all his fears about Daniel just taking him as a casual fling weren’t valid. Daniel had been nothing but nice and supportive since the day Jihoon barged in and aegyo’d his way into a free drink and a payless job.

 

“It’s-it’s not that,” Jihoon stuttered, thinking inwardly that this may be the most awkward conversation he’s ever had. “I just..wanted my first kiss to be with someone who actually likes me back.”

 

He peeked at Daniel. “And I was afraid you only kissed me as a…casual fling. Like how Seongwoo-hyung does with all his girlfriends.”

 

Daniel didn’t want to laugh when Jihoon was being completely serious, but the relief of the whole thing just washed over him and he started giggling uncontrollably.

 

“Ah, what are you laughing for?” Jihoon whined. “Hyung!”

 

Daniel wiped away a tear as he stood up and positioned himself in a squat in front of Jihoon.

 

“ _ Aish _ , Jihoonie,” He placed both hands on Jihoon’s knees and looked up at the boy. “From the very first day you came into this café, from that time we studied at the library, from our first date at the odeng stall, to me trying to intimidate the crush out of poor Guanlin’s system, to every single day I get to see you and spend time with you -  I already knew.”

 

Daniel lifted one hand to Jihoon’s chin to get the younger boy to look back. Jihoon smelled like a weird combination of coffee and a clean shower, and Daniel couldn’t resist throwing in the pun he had been practicing for days.

 

“I like you a latte.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I could have ended this chapter with unresolved and irrational angst but I AM STICKING TO THE DECLARATION THAT THIS IS AN ALL-FLUFF FIC
> 
> Throwing out this update to add to the amazing list of new and continuing Nielwink fanfics!!! I have so much too read and I'm only too happy about it!  
> Please leave comments/kudos if you like the story (it really really motivates me to keep writing), we might be getting to the last few chapters!


	13. Meeting the Maknaes

“Seriously?” Woojin spat out the water he was drinking and Jihoon shushed him for being so loud. Woojin continued under his breath, “ _ I like you a latte _ ? And you didn’t dump his ass right then?”

 

“I punched him,” Jihoon whispered back, pulling at his pants. “And I can’t dump him when he’s not my boyfriend,”

 

Woojin did another spit-take. “WHAT?”

 

They were back at Daehwi’s basement, this time with Guanlin in tow (“He’s no Samuel, but we’re not having much luck with getting new members and the competition’s in two weeks,” Jihoon had said, taking this as an opportunity to be a good hyung to the Taiwanese boy after trampling all over his first-love heart).

 

Jinyoung and Daehwi were trying to help Guanlin perfect the floor works they had added near the end of the song, but a hacking and coughing Woojin got their attention.

 

“What now, hyung?” Daehwi snapped, hair up in a headband and looking frustrated at how many times he had to wipe the floor clean with his pants just for Guanlin to get it  _ almost  _ right.

 

“It’s nothing,” Jihoon shot a death-glare at Woojin. “Woojin can’t drink water properly.”

 

“Jihoon’s boyfriend is a block of cheese.” Woojin ignored his best friend.

 

“Boyfriend?” Daehwi raised an eyebrow at Jihoon, his mood improving at the prospect of gossiping about whoever it was Jihoon was involved with.

 

“I don’t have…h-he’s not…!” Jihoon stuttered out, feeling his ears getting redder with each syllable he uttered. He snapped his head to the other Park beside him who was grinning mischievously.  “Woojin, I will kill you.”

 

“For someone with a history in acting, you could’ve played that down,” Jinyoung was sharp, as always. “Which makes you a bad liar, Jihoon-hyung.”

 

“Ehem.” The four boys looked over to the lanky new addition to their dance crew.

 

“I’m not a block of cheese,” Guanlin chirped up from his position on the floor, and Daehwi and Jinyoung raised incredulous eyebrows at Jihoon.

 

If looks could kill, Jihoon would’ve murdered Guanlin – all pearly whites and healthy gums and crescent eyes staring up at him – and buried him alongside Woojin in a shallow grave by the river Han.

Jihoon was glad that Guanlin got over his hatred for Daniel abnormally fast, but the boy was still a pain in the ass when he wanted to be – limited language and all.

 

“You’re dating this  _ fetus _ ?” Jinyoung pointed an accusatory finger at the new maknae who was twiddling with his thumbs and trying to keep from laughing.

 

“You brought him here so you can get more flirting time?” Daehwi quickly added, still frustrated at how much work it took for him to teach Guanlin their overtly complicated choreography.

 

“That’s partly true,” Woojin croaked as he made a gesture of awarding a gold star to Daehwi.

 

“No, no, no!” Jihoon wanted to tear his hair out in frustration. “Guanlin, stop making this more difficult than it already is.” Jihoon whined, and Guanlin fell to the floor laughing and clutching at his ribs.

 

“So who is it?” Daehwi crossed his arms over his chest, choosing to interrogate Woojin instead.

Jihoon felt the warmth from his ears spread to his cheeks and he knew he was going to combust if the conversation continued further. He had intended to just rant about Mr. Puntastic I-like-you-a-latte to his most trusted best friend – but he should’ve known that his most trusted best friend deserved a painful death. Preferably a slow, excruciating one. And under Jihoon’s bare hands.

 

“I don’t have a boyfriend!” Jihoon shouted, exasperated with the pressure of having to tell his friends that  _ no _ , he and Daniel weren’t really boyfriends (not technically, anyway);  _ maybe,  _ but he wanted to take it slow;  _ yes,  _ he had a huge ass crush on Kang Daniel and the older boy liked him back. A  _ latte _ . Jihoon internally cringed - Daniel’s puns were rubbing off on him.

 

“Let’s just get to practice, guys – if you can’t teach Guanlin the basics, how do you expect to teach this to whoever we’ll recruit in the next few days?”

 

Jinyoung shot him a glance that meant he was only delaying the inevitable spill-all, and Daehwi grumbled, “If I can teach Guanlin  _ anything _ I should be canonized as a saint.” 

 

Woojin promised to help tell the story after practice, which was enough to get the boys back in the zone.

 

“You guys ready?” Jihoon walked over to his phone which was connected to the speakers, ready to play Daehwi’s latest remix of their dance music –  _ Energetic _ . As he hovered his finger over play, a notification popped up on screen.

_ Daniel-hyung _

Sorry, got off class a bit late!!! I’m almost at the door, see you! ^_^

Jihoon’s eyes opened wide as he quickly dismissed the message and hit play for the music. He forgot that they invited Daniel over to help them out with practice.

 

“You guys go ahead, I just need t-to use the…bathroom!” He shouted over the music, and the four boys threw him a confused expression as he climbed up the stairs two steps at a time in a rush.

 

_ Don’t you dare ring that doorbell, Kang Daniel – we can meet later – ABORT ABORT ABORT!  _ Jihoon was screaming the thoughts in his head in case it was true that soulmates suddenly had that whole telepathy thing going on.

 

He pulled open the front door and stood at the doorway, jogging in place because of how cold it was and how stupid it was to suddenly rush out without a coat on. He sees Daniel’s familiar figure trudging up the walkway, a snapback on his blonde hair and a thick plaid winter coat on. Daniel’s smiling face immediately broke into an even  _ larger  _ smile that made his eyes disappear altogether.

 

It was ridiculously cold but Jihoon swore that smile could warm up anything.

 

Or maybe it was the adrenaline warming him up as he made huge gestures for Daniel not to proceed and head back – looking nearly like he was doing jumping jacks.

 

Daniel watched Jihoon hopping up and down on Daehwi’s doorstep, making an X with his arms and shaking his head.

 

“Aigoo,” he coos to himself as he speeds up to meet the underdressed boy. “He’s trying to be even more adorable than usual, he’s so excited he forgot to put on his coat!”

 

_ NO, NO, NO!  _ Jihoon sees Daniel coming up closer and wanted to take off a shoe to throw at Daniel’s permanently happy face.  _ Go back! Go back, _ y _ ou idiot, this means NO! _

 

Desperate, Jihoon trots up to meet Daniel a few feet from the doorway and could feel the cold snow under his thin-soled rubber shoes.

 

“Jihooni-“ Daniel called, before Jihoon tackled the larger boy and started pulling at his coat.

 

“Shh, you got to go,” Jihoon hissed, trying to steer Daniel in the direction he came from.

 

Daniel obviously didn’t hear Jihoon’s rushed whispers over the sound of his own thoughts feeling absurdly happy at this excited welcome.

 

“Aish, Jihoonie, I know you’re excited to meet me, but next time you need to put a coat on first,” Daniel smiled as the smaller boy helplessly pulled at him.

“Agh,” Jihoon nearly snarled, trying to keep his voice low as he kicked one of Daniel’s shins to get the huge boy moving.

 

“Ow!” Daniel yelped, but the momentary shock allowed Jihoon to finally pull him – only Jihoon tripped on one of Mrs. Lee’s flowerpots and landed on cold, wet, snow; unintentionally dragging Daniel down with him.

 

Jihoon braced himself for impact, and in a split-second, imagined how his tombstone would look like:

 

_ Here lies Park Jihoon, dead under the weight of his huge not-boyfriend, Kang Daniel _ .

 

It’s a good thing Daniel’s reflexes were honed enough to land on his arms, caging both around Jihoon’s face, knees on either side of Jihoon.

 

Jihoon had his eyes scrunched tight and opened them a bit when the impact didn’t land – only to be hit by the impact of Daniel’s handsome face hovering worriedly over him. Daniel’s face was framed by snowflakes melting on his cap and scarf, a healthy blush up on his cheeks, and eyes intently staring at Jihoon’s own.

 

It was the perfect setup for a romantic moment and a  _ proper  _ first kiss, and Jihoon nearly forgot his present dilemma as rom-com theme songs started playing in his head and he got the sudden urge to lift himself up on his elbows and sneak a taste of Daniel’s lips again.

 

“Did I hurt you anywhere, baby?” Daniel asked, voice dripping with concern. Jihoon was flustered by the unexpected nickname (though he had thoughtlessly laughed when Daniel mistakenly called him “baby” a few weeks ago) and the sudden warmth of Daniel on top of him and around him had the ironic effect of comforting him and keeping him on edge at the same time.

 

“N-no, I’m fi-“ Jihoon stuttered, remembering what got him into this scenario and the first place, and was about to push Daniel off when-

 

“OH MY GOD!”

 

Daehwi’s shrill voice came from the doorway, and the two boys lying in the snow turned to face four boys standing at the doorway in shock. Woojin’s mocking voice came in softly, “ _ Not my boyfriend,  _ he said _.” _

Jihoon wondered if being crushed by the weight of Kang Daniel was still an option.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long absence! I've been incredibly busy with work and other irl stuff, but 2Park graduation today made me so happy I wanted to write this out ;;;;; It's a short chapter, but I'll be able to work on a longer one very soon! 
> 
> And to whoever's still reading this - thank you for sticking by my first fic ;___; We've got three chapters left to this story (not sure if good news or bad)! 
> 
> As always, much much love to all comments and kudos~!


	14. Boy in Luv

“You remember how you said that anything can top the ‘first date’ we had?” Jihoon huffed out, hands tightly wound in his pockets because of the freezing cold.

 

Daniel swallowed thickly as he jogged in place. “Yeah?”

 

“Well,” Jihoon growled, feeling his body shudder involuntarily. “This one isn’t cutting it.” 

 

They had gone to the park to ride a tandem bike and watch a fireworks show - all the activities carefully curated by their  _ thoughtful _ dongsaengs - who obviously knew nothing about dating except what they have seen in cartoons and age-appropriate romantic comedies. And they obviously knew nothing about checking the temperature before sending their hyungs out to die. 

 

( _ The fire of romance will keep you two warm, Daehwi had exclaimed as he put an obnoxious yellow beanie on Jihoon’s head before pushing the two of them out with a pair of tickets to some fireworks show. _ )

 

“Why are we even following their instructions,” Daniel whined. “We could just go home and play games instead.” 

 

“Believe me, that’s all I want right now,” Jihoon bit his lip, unconsciously huddling closer to Daniel as they looked up at the sky, where fireworks should be happening anytime soon. “But I paid a pretty penny for these tickets, and we are not wasting-” 

 

“Hold up,” Daniel finally stopped fidgeting enough to look at Jihoon’s face that was almost lost in the fur of his coat. “I thought Daehwi forced the tickets on you?”

 

Jihoon bit the inside of his cheek.  _ Why wasn’t he born with the ability to lie better _ ? 

 

“I kind of was supposed to ask you to this stupid fireworks show anyway,” Jihoon mumbled, voice decreasing in volume that Daniel had to lean in before laughing out loud. “But I bought the tickets before I found out it’s going to be  _ North Pole _ weather today.” 

 

“Okay, now I don’t have any more reasons to complain,” Daniel managed after laughing for longer than necessary.

 

“I do,” Jihoon snapped, “It’s colder than my frozen heart out here, and if they cancel this show because there’s only-” Jihoon gestured around to point at a small crowd around them, “-us and less people than all the members of NCT, I’m going to have to kill something.” 

 

“You’re cute when you’re grumpy,” Daniel cooed.

 

“I’m cuter when I’m not  _ freezing to death _ ,” Jihoon replied, trying to ignore the flutter in his stomach and how Daniel’s impossibly sunny disposition was making him feel better.

 

Suddenly a shot of light and a belated  _ boom _ interrupted whatever Daniel was about to say, and for all of Jihoon’s whining - the both of them had to stare with their mouths wide open as the sliver of light exploded into a dome of colors right above them, crackling and lighting up the sky as it went. 

 

It was followed by several others, and Jihoon couldn’t help the smile that was forming on his lips. 

 

“Woah,” he marveled, rooted to his spot as he watched the display above them. 

 

He turned to Daniel to point out one specifically beautiful explosion, a gold one that scattered into several smaller explosions that echoed in his ears - only to find the older boy staring right at him.

 

“Watch the fireworks,” Jihoon scolded, feeling his cheeks warm up at the intensity of Daniel’s eyes. “I paid a lot to see them!” 

 

“The view I’m looking at is better, though?” Daniel smiled thoughtfully, before following Jihoon’s instructions and looking up to watch the show. 

 

Jihoon’s heart skipped a beat as he looked back up at the fireworks, but now he could feel Daniel’s gloved hand linking with his own - and somehow it felt like that’s where his hand should have been this whole time.

  
  


***

  
  


_ Earlier that day. _

 

“So, Daniel-hyung is-” Daehwi leaned forward on his knees, a grin plastered on his face that Jihoon desperately wants to slap off.

 

“NOT my boyfriend.” Jihoon finished.

 

“Yet.” Daniel added hopefully. Jihoon groaned.

 

“Oh my god, you guys are  _ too _ cute,” Daehwi raised both hands to cup his face, and Jinyoung and Woojin try to keep themselves from laughing. Mostly because Jihoon was more than capable of eviscerating them both if they followed suit after Daehwi.

 

“No, no,  _ no, _ ” Jihoon whined, planting his face on the floor from where he was seated on the floor. All of them congregated back at the basement of Daehwi’s house, and he had no choice but to take the hot seat in front of his dongsaengs. Who were still alive for the time being.

 

Operative words:  _ for the time being _ . They were dead the moment Daniel gives them a moment alone. 

 

Daniel, on the other hand, seemed to find the whole ordeal entertaining - bunny smile never leaving his face as he fielded the questions from the enthusiastic boys.

 

Questions ranging from  _ what made you fall for Jihoon _ , to  _ have you two kissed,  _ to  _ when are you getting married _ . 

 

“We’re taking it slow,” Jihoon hissed. 

 

“ _ We _ ,” Woojin singsonged beside him (complete with air quotes), and Jihoon kicked the younger’s shin. The groan of pain that followed alleviated Jihoon’s mood a little.

 

“Have you two gone on a date?” Daehwi shifted his position to sit on his heels. 

 

“Yes,” Daniel cheerfully answered, in the same beat as Jihoon’s, “No.” 

 

Jihoon looked at the older boy, slightly bewildered. “ _ When _ have we gone on a date?” 

 

“ _ Odeng _ ?” Daniel replied, confusion on his face as well. “I walked you home? I didn’t have enough money for chicken?”

 

“That was  _ not _ a date,” Jihoon huffed.

 

“Your mom definitely thought it was,” Daniel raised an eyebrow. 

 

Maybe Jihoon didn’t realize how cute he got when he was trying to be anything but - and Daniel was enjoying the healthy flush on the younger’s cheeks and the pout that seemed permanent on those lips for the entirety of the afternoon. 

 

“I didn’t know it was  _ roast-Jihoon-hyung-hour _ ,” Guanlin piped up from his seat in the corner of the room. The youngest threw Jihoon the biggest grin he’s ever put on before adding, “You could’ve avoided this if you chose me instead, hyung.” 

 

“Lai Guanlin, the next time you’re in the cafe I will serve you diarrhea,” Daniel’s comeback didn’t miss a beat, cheerful smile still on his face, and Woojin laughed out loud. 

 

“Be gentle, I already rejected him,” Jihoon rolled his eyes. Trust him to fall in love with a giggly man-child.

 

“That’s it,” Daehwi clapped his hands together, and Jihoon wondered how the maknae of the group was also the most commanding out of them all. “We’re skipping practice for today. Jihoon-hyung’s denial phase needs an intervention.” 

 

When Daniel began to laugh, Daehwi glared at him pointedly. “And you, hyung -  _ odeng  _ is not a date, and  _ I didn’t have enough money for chicken _ makes you look like a slob.” 

 

Daniel hums a quiet sorry, obviously intimidated by the smaller boy.

 

“Don’t you know that Jihoon-hyung lives for chicken,” Jinyoung managed to add under his breath, seemingly appalled that Daniel did not have to use chicken to lure Jihoon into liking him.

 

“And that dating him means he’ll eat you out of house and home?” Woojin commented, dragging himself to a safe distance away from his best friend.

 

“He’s also very un-cute when he doesn’t get enough sleep and starts being a brat,” Jinyoung continued. 

 

“I think he’s cute when he’s a brat,” Daniel responded. “But fine, odeng wasn’t a date.” 

 

“Okay, let’s set the rules,” Daehwi grinned at Woojin and Jinyoung. “First, you have to win us, Jihoon-hyung’s friends, over by helping us finish this competition song and choreography.” 

 

“More than willing,” Daniel replied, putting a hand to his chest.

 

Jihoon threw a puzzled look at his friends and saw  that they all have that conniving look in their eyes. “Hey, hold up, who said he had to go through this-” 

 

“And two,” Woojin bulldozed over his best friend with a louder voice, “We get free coffee when we are at the cafe.” 

 

“Once a month,” Daniel bartered, mentally adding up how much of a paycheck deduction that would be. 

 

“This is extortio-” Jihoon butted in. 

 

“And lastly,” Daehwi again spoke over Jihoon, and the younger wanted to just grab Daniel by the wrist and drag him out of this nest of crows. “Take Jihoon-hyung on a romantic date tonight.” 

 

“I’d love to,” Daniel smiled, finally peeling his eyes off the younger boys to blind Jihoon with his radiant face. Jihoon hated the way the butterflies staged a riot in his internal organs, because feelings are stupid and his stupid  _ crush  _ on Kang Daniel was threatening to literally  _ crush _ the life out of him.

 

But Daniel’s smile is so infectious that he found himself starting to smile back.

 

“What,” Jinyoung smirked. “No objections to that one, Jihoon-hyung?” 

 

Jihoon reluctantly tore his gaze from Daniel to glare at the younger. “Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to have two black eyes, Jinyoung?” 

 

“I’m sorry.” Jinyoung blurted out and joined Woojin at a safe distance. 

  
  


***

 

After the last of the fireworks had gone, snow had started falling - and for some reason, Jihoon’s mood had gone from sourpuss to kitten-with-ball-of-yarn.

 

Jihoon took Daniel’s gloved hands and ran out into the snowfall, laughing as they attempted to avoid the snowflakes as they fell. It was blistering cold and Daniel could already feel his cheeks going numb, but the laughter breaking from Jihoon’s lips was enough warmth for him to ignore the cold.

 

Daniel watched as Jihoon ran in front of him, all obnoxious yellow and bright baby blue - a strong contrast against the dark night and the pale snow. Without warning, he yanked back at the hand that was pulling at his wrist, prompting Jihoon to fall flat against the blanket of snow and the grass.

 

“What was that for!” Jihoon immediately yelled, getting up before he got too much snow on him that it would be uncomfortable when it melted. 

 

“Snowball fight?” Daniel suggested, immediately pelting a tiny ball of compacted snow onto Jihoon - a colorful target. 

 

“No, no,” Jihoon started, but his actions went against his protests: he was already rolling up a new ball to throw at Daniel. The two continued pelting each other with tiny, unprepared balls of snow - until Daniel had doubled over laughing and could no longer retaliate. 

 

Jihoon yells out a string of mild trash talk as he threw a few more snowballs at the older boy, only to be tackled down onto the snow. 

 

“Hey, no fair, you’re not supposed to  _ spear  _ someone into the snow during a snowball fight!” Jihoon started shouting, breathless with his prior laughter intermingling with Daniel’s own. 

 

“I surrender, I surrender,” Daniel barked out, restraining Jihoon’s arms to his sides - and finding himself face to face with the beautiful boy and his pink cheeks. Daniel coughed, removing himself from Jihoon and helping the younger stand up. 

 

“Hyung,” Jihoon covered his face with a gloved hand. “I think it’s high time we find a closed space with a heater.” 

 

“Oh?” Daniel teased, “ _ Now _ you want me in a closed space?” 

 

Jihoon stepped on the older’s boot, eliciting a momentary  _ ow _ and peals of laughter from the older boy. 

 

“Yah! My nose is cold, I don’t want to be sick tomorrow, is all. You started a snowball fight, you take responsibility for the casualties.” Jihoon grumbled out the last part, looking around to see where they could find refuge. 

 

Instead, Daniel took Jihoon’s gloved hands in his and pulled it away from his face, leaning in close to press a soft, gentle kiss on the tip of the younger boy’s nose. 

 

Jihoon could feel the warmth flare up within him, caught unaware by the intimate gesture in the middle of the snowfall. He looks up to see Daniel’s hair glistening with snowflakes that were starting to melt. 

 

“Better?” Daniel whispered, pressing his forehead against Jihoon’s own. 

 

“What did I tell you about suddenly kissing me?” Jihoon replied in quick breaths, trying to sound threatening as he broke the eye contact. Daniel had half a mind to switch into defensive position before Jihoon could start mauling him to death in the middle of a park - but he felt Jihoon’s hands relax in his hold instead. 

 

“Not to do it if it’s just a casual fling,” Daniel’s expression softened. He released his hold on one of Jihoon’s hands to rest on Jihoon’s cheek, prompting the boy to look back at him; and hopefully hear the sincerity in his voice. “Which is why I’m doing it - because this is hardly a casual fling, and you’re hardly a date I want to run away from.” 

 

“I’m out of puns and I’m not really good with words, but I hope you somehow understand,” Jihoon felt Daniel’s arms wrap around him - their thick down jackets crinkling as he let himself get pressed against the older. There’s inches of padding and down feathers and synthetic material separating the two of them, but Jihoon could feel the usual warmth he always felt when he’s around Daniel. 

 

His mind wandered off to long hours at the cafe, Daniel bathed in the yellow wash of both sunrise and sunset; the smell of freshly-brewed americano in the air, and Jisung’s slow jazz tunes coloring their shift. Daniel’s appreciative smile and patient voice during dance practice, encouraging Jihoon even when the boy was beyond tired. All the late night memes and messages they exchanged over the past few weeks - and suddenly Jihoon is very much aware of how thankful he is for breaking a bunch of plates. 

 

He’d break all the precious china in the world and bury himself in a mountain of debt if it meant falling in love with Kang Daniel under such hopeless circumstances. 

 

_ Falling in love _ . 

 

Jihoon’s mind repeated the line over and over as he reaches up to wrap arms around Daniel’s scarf-covered neck. 

 

He had wanted to take it slow, wanted to make sure that whatever Daniel was feeling for him was not just because he was cute, or that he acted cute, or that it was just a natural outcome of them seeing each other every single day. 

 

Park Jihoon hated rushing into things, which is why he had an array of defensive facades specifically crafted to make sure he was not the vulnerable one in any situation. He will be cute, he will tease, he will play along - but he won’t be the one with his heart on his sleeve.

 

But something about Kang Daniel had him thinking - maybe sometimes you just take the risk and see where the ride takes you.

 

“My lips,” Jihoon whispered in a low voice, hands clutched tight around Daniel’s neck. 

 

“Hm?” Daniel’s eyes were wide, mildly surprised at Jihoon’s sudden forwardness. 

 

“My lips are cold, too,” Jihoon mumbled, cheeks burning a bright red (from the cold or from the embarrassment, he wasn’t too sure). 

 

“Funny,” Daniel replied, relief breaking out into his face in the form of a wide smile. “Mine feel a bit cold, too.” 

 

Just like that, Jihoon moved forward to stand on tiptoes, catching Daniel’s lips in his own. 

 

The snowflakes fell softly around them, a few people looking up, their appreciative sounds and merry laughter creating the perfect background music as both felt the warmth spread from where their lips were connected to the tips of their fingers - burning bright in the middle of a hopeless cold.

 

Daniel kissed the younger again and again, small abrupt kisses on those cherry lips, eliciting laughter and grunts, appeals to get the older to kiss him properly. 

 

So Daniel kisses him, and he does it right.

 

And Jihoon didn’t mind if this was going too fast, or if he was being vulnerable, or if his friends would tease the living daylights out of him in the  coming days - just now, in the middle of all this and with Kang Daniel in his arms - he was simply a boy in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's been exactly 7 months since I last updated this and people still voted for this to be updated first out of all my ongoing stuff??? I had to read through the whole thing to remember what was going on ;;;; Hope this chapter somehow made up for the long absence? (I mean, it's already summertime and this was set in winter I almost wrote a summer scene with a watergun fights and ice cream and everything)
> 
> BUT TRUE TO MYSELF LET ME WRITE G-RATED FLUFF AND BE HAPPY
> 
> Last chapter and an epilogue to go, please cheer me on! uwu
> 
> Comments/kudos are always appreciated; and you can even yell at me over [Twitter](www.twitter.com/cheesehoonie) or [CC](www.curiouscat.me/cheesehoonie)!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is my first fic...ever. Wrote this on a whim because NielWink is too cute for my life and all the Wanna One boys are extra adorable. Trying to write this to be as light and fluffy as possible - we'll see how the next few chapters go! No beta, so excuse any typos or grammar mistakes!
> 
> And please do let me know if you liked it/if I should continue with the story :)


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